Who can join?

Any business or organization interested in promoting San Francisco as a visitor destination may join the Bureau. Those that serve the City's visitor and convention industry, as well as those that are vendors, suppliers or service providers for such businesses, generally have the most to gain from membership. Companies that support tourism -- which has a significant impact on the area's economy and job market -- also join the Bureau. All of these companies benefit from the sale of products and services to visitors -- even if they don't directly serve the visitor market.

Why Should I Join?

Tourism is everyone's business. The economy of San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area depends on the visitor dollar, and your membership supports our efforts to attract more conventions and visitors to the City. The Bureau works on your behalf to promote San Francisco worldwide as a preferred destination.

Membership opens the door for you to access valuable market research, exclusive services, and valuable marketing opportunities and resources to help you capture a larger share of the visitor dollar. Through membership, you help build and maintain the local economy, benefiting your company, your industry and your City.

As a member of the Bureau, what do I get for my dues dollars?

Your investment, combined with that of more than 2,000 other member businesses and a small percentage of revenue from the San Francisco Hotel Room Tax, covers the costs of promoting the City, on your behalf, as a destination for meetings, conventions and pleasure travel in order to provide a healthy market for members to do business -- a market with a constant influx of visitors and their dollars. In short, by pooling the industry's resources, we're able to engage in important broad-based marketing activities that most individual members would be unable to afford.

In addition to aggressively selling The City, the Bureau provides its members with benefits, activities and services designed to enhance members' visibility in the marketplace. These include:

Skyline at dusk    Photo By Lynn Davis

• Advertising and promotional programs, as well as free listings in various Bureau visitor publications.
  
• Firsthand information about San Francisco's lucrative visitor market, such as research reports and the popular Convention Calendar.
  
• Numerous Member Events throughout the year, including Market Briefings, Member Business Exchanges, Educational Seminars, Civic Update Briefings and May Fair-The Meetings and Visitor Industry Expo. You also get an inside track to sponsorship of Bureau events.
  
• Opportunity to display your promotional brochures at the Visitor Information Center in Hallidie Plaza at Market and Powell streets as well as The City Information Desk, which is set up at many conventions in Moscone Center.
  
• And much more.

How much does it cost to join?

Dues are based on several factors, including the type and size of the business, as well as its stake in the visitor industry. In some cases, location also plays a factor.

For example, accommodations have a very large stake in San Francisco's success as a visitor industry. However, because accommodations range in size, there is no flat rate. Dues for accommodations members are based on the number of sleeping rooms, meeting space and on whether the business is inside or outside of San Francisco. As a result, there is a wide range in annual dues for this category of membership -- from a low of $420 to more than $40,000.

How does the Bureau promote the City?

The Bureau has more than 75 professional staff members working on behalf of members to aggressively market the City as a destination for conventions, meetings and leisure travelers.

The Bureau markets the City in various ways:

• Directly to convention, event and meeting planners employed by businesses, corporations and trade associations. The Bureau books more than 700 meetings, conventions and trade shows annually in hotels, Moscone Center and the Civic Auditorium. The meetings generate almost 1.4 million hotel room nights.
  
• Directly to the travel trade-The Bureau assists more than 10,000 travel agencies and tour operators worldwide with promoting San Francisco to their clients. The Bureau also assists in developing more than 70 new tour programs to The City each year.
  
• Directly to visitors-The Bureau markets the City to visitors via numerous consumer advertising and marketing programs. The Bureau also operates the Visitor Information Center at Hallidie Plaza, which assists more than 750,000 visitors annually.
  
• Directly to the travel media-The Bureau's public relations efforts result in worldwide news coverage of the City as a premier visitor destination.

Do members outside San Francisco get the same benefits as those in the City?

The Bureau's mission is to strengthen San Francisco's economy by marketing The City as a destination for meetings, conventions, trade shows and leisure travelers and the impact of these efforts has a clear effect throughout the Bay Area and Northern California in general. Nearly a third of the Bureau's members are located outside of San Francisco and within a 150-mile radius of the City.

In 2002, 62 percent of overnight visitors to San Francisco (approximately 1.8 million individuals from outside the Bay Area) actually utilized accommodations in towns and communities surrounding The City (either hotels, motels, inns or private residences).

Additionally, thousands of visitors take day trips outside The City or extend their visit to San Francisco by taking side trips to other area locales and attractions. Bureau research shows, for instance, that four in 10 visitors to The City also visit either Muir Woods, Tiburon or Sausalito. Another 27 percent visit the wine country, and 23 percent visit the Monterey peninsula.
Obviously, the money these visitors spend outside The City on accommodations, meals, entertainment and take-home purchases certainly has a positive impact on regional businesses and economies.

Bureau members, regardless of address, share benefits, including research, educational, networking and promotional opportunities with other members as well as with the convention and travel trades.

Do larger businesses benefit more from Bureau membership than small businesses?

All member businesses benefit from the Bureau's domestic and international marketing efforts. All businesses serving the convention and visitor markets benefit from a healthy market resulting from ongoing promotion. In many cases, larger businesses have a larger stake in the health of the industry, which is reflected in their dues.

Does the Bureau offer an "associate" membership dues rate?

We offer a "Civic" membership, designed for businesses that market to other industries, rather than to meeting planners, the travel trade or individual pleasure travelers. Civic membership allows businesses to support the Bureau's mission of bringing visitor business to San Francisco, and entitles them to attend Bureau events at member prices. It carries a lower dues rate, yet civic members still benefit from the Bureau's marketing efforts.

Why are members charged for activities, such as member events?

Dues payments are used to cover the cost of promoting San Francisco as a visitor destination. The costs associated with producing other programs and services, such as member events, are passed along to users. Rather than charging higher dues to all members to cover these costs, we charge for services so that only those members who use them actually pay the cost to produce them.

How do I register for a member event?

Go to the Member Events & Networking page and review which program(s) gain your interest. Then download a registration form and fax it to the Bureau at 415-227-2602.

How can I make changes to my membership records to ensure that the Bureau has accurate information?

Simply write down the change on your company letterhead and mail to Membership, San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, 201 Third St., #900, San Francisco, CA 94103. Or fax the same information to 415-227-2602.

Once I join, how do I start taking advantage of my benefits?

Start by attending a Member Orientation and Refresher Session. These one-hour and 45-minute sessions give a complete overview of all the benefits and services offered by the Bureau and will help you determine which of our services can be added to your marketing program for greater exposure to visitors. For more information or to register, see Member Events & Networking.

Does the Bureau get involved in political issues or in the operation of city government?

As a not-for-profit sales and marketing association, as opposed to a lobbying organization, the Bureau does not endorse or oppose individual candidates for office. By Bureau policy, set by the Board of Directors, the Bureau only gets involved in local issues that have a significant effect on the organization's ability to market San Francisco as a visitor destination. Generally speaking, the Bureau is not involved in statewide or national issues.

Additionally, while the Bureau does have a contract with The City to market San Francisco and to book conventions in local convention facilities, the Bureau is not involved with the operations of city government or local regulation. Various other organizations in The City, such as the Hotel Council of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, are involved with operational concerns of specific industries and serve their members in an advocacy role. Neighborhood groups and merchants associations often take the lead on local-area regulation. And the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is available to serve its members (many of whom are also members of the Bureau) as the voice of business locally.

Efforts to encourage businesses to locate and remain in San Francisco are coordinated by the San Francisco Partnership.

The Bureau, when possible, will cooperate with these and other organizations to address issues that have an impact on its ability to accomplish its sales and marketing mission.

How can I find out about scheduled conventions and trade shows so I can market my services to meeting planners?

The Bureau's members-only online Convention Calendar is a great tool for marketing your business to convention groups coming to San Francisco. The convention calendar provides detailed, up-to-date contact information of meeting planners bringing conventions to town over the next two years. Search by event, month, location and more, and find targeted events to which you can promote your product and/or service. Company ID and PIN is required.

Does my membership allow me to exhibit at Moscone Center or Civic Auditorium conventions?

Being a member of the Bureau does not entitle you to the privilege of exhibiting at individual conventions. Each convention is managed by a different company or association. However, as a marketing member of the Bureau, you have access to the memebers-only Online Convention Calendar, which gives you information about upcoming conventions. If you wish, you may contact the meeting planners of particular conventions to inquire about purchasing exhibit space at shows that would be appropriate for your product or service.
Some meeting planners request that the Bureau host a City Information Desk at their convention. Members may provide appropriate promotional materials for their businesses, which will be made available at the desk.

Additionally, the Bureau hosts May Fair-The Meetings and Visitor Industry Expo-each spring and you are encouraged to exhibit your product or service to other Bureau members and the local hospitality industry.

What other ways can I distribute my Brochures?

One of the most valued benefits is free distribution of brochures at the Bureau's Visitor Information Center (VIC) located on the lower level of Hallidie Plaza at the cable car turnaround on Powell and Market streets. Annually, the VIC serves more than 750,000 visitors looking for information on things to see and do in San Francisco.

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