San Francisco is looking to boost its tourism industry by welcoming a pair of pandas from China, with plans for them to arrive at the San Francisco Zoo as early as 2025. This move is seen not just as a way to add new residents to the zoo, but also as a symbol of the city’s appreciation for its Chinese heritage. The hope is that the pandas will attract more visitors, both domestic and international, to San Francisco, helping to revive its struggling tourism industry that has been slow to recover after the pandemic. Elizabeth Casolo reports that the city’s downtown area has been particularly hard hit, with concerns about safety deterring some travelers.
In 1985, the San Francisco Zoo previously hosted two orphaned giant pandas, which proved to be a major draw for visitors. The pandas attracted over a million visitors during their time at the zoo, showing the potential for these new arrivals to have a similar impact. Cassandra Costello, chief policy and external affairs officer at San Francisco Travel, hopes that history will repeat itself and the upcoming pandas will bring in crowds once again. China is a significant market for San Francisco’s tourism industry, with Chinese visitors projected to spend billions of dollars in the city this year, highlighting the importance of attracting tourists from this region for economic growth.
San Francisco International Airport is also working to increase flights with Chinese airlines as travel restrictions between the U.S. and China are slowly being lifted. Throughout most of 2023, there were only a limited number of flights operating between the two countries due to the pandemic, but the number has since increased. The airport hopes to increase its services with Chinese carriers to accommodate the strong demand for travel between China and the U.S. While concerns have been raised about competition within the U.S. airline industry, the potential economic benefits of increased flights from China are significant, with even just one additional flight estimated to bring in millions of dollars in revenue and create hundreds of jobs.
Cost and visa restrictions have been identified as potential barriers for Chinese visitors to San Francisco, but increasing the supply of flights could help to address these issues by making travel more affordable and accessible. The airport believes that relaxing restrictions on flights could have a positive impact on ticket prices and customer satisfaction, as well as benefiting local economies through increased tourism revenue. While San Francisco currently hosts flights with a few Chinese carriers, there are plans to expand services and collaborate with more airlines to boost tourism and support the city’s economic recovery post-pandemic. The potential for growth in Chinese tourism to San Francisco is seen as a significant opportunity for the city to strengthen its relationship with China and attract more international visitors.
