According to the San Francisco Travel Association, the city welcomed 16.51 million visitors in 2012an increase of one percent from 2011. Spending a total of $8.93 billion, visitor expenditure has increased by 5.5 percent from last year.
The tourism industry generated $562 million in taxes for the city of San Francisco⎯⎯up 6.7 percent from the previous year. Jobs supported by tourism rose 3.6 percent to 74,009 jobs in 2012, while the annual payroll increased by 6.2 percent to $2.18 billion.
In 2012, there was an average of 131,128 visitors in San Francisco daily. Visitor spending equated to $24.46 million each day⎯⎯including spending related to meetings and conventions.
Convention bookings reached 48 percent of the annual goal of 2,105,500 booked room nights at midyear and are on target for a five percent increase over last year. Continuing a trend tracked since 1998, six conventions in the city have received record-breaking attendance in the past six months. 

Expected to add $97 million to the local economy, the Bay Lights⎯⎯a 1.8-mile-long and 500-feet-high light sculpture design⎯⎯will remain on the bridge for two years. An influx of sailing enthusiasts and media attention is also expected for the America’s Cup and its surrounding events.
