San Francisco hosts a Night of Inspiration

The San Francisco Travel Association headed north this week, welcoming the Canadian travel trade to its Night of Inspiration event in downtown Toronto.

On hand at the event were representatives from Air Canada, boutique properties Cova Hotel and Hotel Nikko, Hilton Hotels, tour companies and tourist hot spots including Pier 39, City Sightseeing bus tours and Monterey County.

Air Canada is expanding their flights to the city this month by introducing three new routes from Calgary, adding to their already six daily flights out of Toronto, nine out of Vancouver, one out of both Edmonton and Montreal.

In total there are 25 flights arriving daily from various airlines into the city from six Canadian hubs. If travelling from Toronto, it’s just a quick 4.5 hours to San Francisco International. From there, the Bay Area Rapid Transit takes travellers downtown in just 30 minutes for under $10.

Currently the tourist board is working with airlines and travel agencies to ensure flights down to the city are full and that rates are affordable in order to offset the current exchange rate. While business travel is down slightly since the Moscone Convention Centre is currently under renovation, this is good news for the pleasure traveller as many hotel rooms have been freed and are priced competitively.

“San Francisco is easy to walk around and navigate,” Funke tells PAX. “It has a very European flair with great museums, farmers markets, a craft beer and spirits community and great restaurants.”

Getting around is very easy and renting a car isn’t required as it’s easily walkable. Plus the pubic transportation system consisting of their famous cable trolley cars and buses (and bike share programs) is vey sophisticated.

Art lovers will be pleased that the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art was recently reopened this month, and has almost tripled in size, after being closed for a three-year expansion.

If a guided tour is needed, double-decker Sightseeing Tour buses offer many different options (including night tours and wine tours to Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley). Their Free Style Pass is great for travellers who do not want to commit to a set tour package when they book. This allows the customer to decide what they want to do when they actually arrive.

The city was just the awarded for being the “Best Dining City In The Country" and travellers will have a wealth of festivals and events to choose from in the next few months. San Francisco Pride, one of the largest LGBT festivals in the U.S., takes place at the end of June while the Stern Grove Festivals are free concerts that take place all summer long. And on July 2, the city hosts its popular (and free) Opera at the Ball Park.

Day trips outside the city are also a possibility. A day tour to the famous Yosemite National Park is gaining in popularity and a trip to Monterey County, which takes just under two hours, is well worth it for Pebble Beach if you’re a golf lover - they’ve hosted five US Opens.

For more information, visit www.sanfrancisco.travel.

PHOTO: Daniel Schwartz, tourism senior manager - North America, San Francisco Travel Association; Hubertus Funke, vice-president, San Francisco Travel Association; Laurie Armstrong, director of media relations - U.S. & Canada, San Francisco Travel Association; Charmaine Singh, president, Connect WorldWide Canada; Christophe Ley, director - MICE, San Francisco Travel Association; Javier Fernandez, account manager, ConnectWorldWide.