San Francisco: Open, evolving and ready to welcome Canadians

The San Francisco Travel Association made a strategic departure from traditional international sales mission and instead of coming to Canada and meeting the Canadian trade on its home turf, it rolled out the red carpet to renew confidence in the destination during a four-day immersion for Canadian partners.

And by bringing delegates directly to the city – just ahead of the 2026 spring and summer travel season — San Francisco positioned itself as open, evolving, and ready to welcome Canadian visitors … not to mention the fact that the city’s first Hosted Canada Mission was a rousing success.

During the mission, Canadian travel trade partners and event planners experienced the city’s latest evolutions firsthand, with participants officially welcomed by leading tourism executives, as well as representatives from the San Francisco International Airport and local hotel and attraction partners.

San Francisco Travel immersed Canadian attendees in the destination through a cross-city tour, unique culinary experiences and behind-the-scenes tours of cultural attractions. Curated experiences brought Canadian partners in direct contact with local stakeholders and the tourism community to strengthen their ties to the destination.

Anna Marie Presutti, San Francisco Travel’s President & CEO, celebrated the event’s impact saying: “Canadians have been an important part of our tourism economy for decades, and this mission was our way of building on the longstanding ties between us. We didn’t just want to tell the Canadian market that San Francisco is ready to welcome them; we wanted them to feel the energy and vibrancy of the city for themselves.”

Key highlights of the mission included:

• Customized itineraries: Immersions into the city’s latest culinary and cultural attractions.
• Infrastructure walk-throughs: Deep dives into the evolving events infrastructure and hotel landscape.
• Bilateral intelligence: Dedicated forums for Canadian delegates to share market insights, traveller sentiment, and feedback directly with San Francisco partners to align future offerings.

Go to www.sftravel.com for more.