Promotional agency of San Francisco SFTA has launched a multi-million-dollar campaign that targets leisure travellers and meeting planners in major domestic markets and key international markets. It is the destination marketing organisation’s first campaign to include television advertising.

To promote travel to the city, the San Francisco Travel Association has launched its latest Always San Francisco, its largest-ever global marketing and advertising campaign. In a press statement, San Francisco Travel Association (SFTA) says that the multimillion dollar advertising effort targets meeting organisers and leisure travellers in significant home markets and important international markets. It is the first campaign using television advertising for the destination marketing company.

SFTA says that the Always San Francisco campaign features famous landmarks that people associate with San Francisco, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Lombard Street, as well as ones that highlight the city’s vibrant neighbourhoods and the variety of visitor experiences. San Franciscans Lady Camden of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame, Sirron Norris, Mae Powell, Michael O’Konis, Chinatown lion dancers, chefs from Michelin-starred Angler, dancers from the acclaimed AXIS Dance Company, and others make cameo appearances in the campaign to represent the talent and inclusivity the city champions.

“This is the largest campaign San Francisco Travel has ever launched due to the incredible support from the City and County of San Francisco, Visit California, and other stakeholders. Tourism is vital to the city’s economic recovery, and ‘Always San Francisco’ is designed to drive increased visitation by showing the authentic San Francisco experience people love and dream about,” says  San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe D’Alessandro.

“The campaign evokes the emotional joy visitors find here. San Francisco will always be San Francisco. It is ever-changing, but the feeling of San Francisco remains constant. Its epic beauty, iconic landmarks, diverse people, and larger-than-life moments stay with you forever,” San Francisco Travel Chief Marketing Officer Lynn Bruni-Perkins says.

To match the powerful and inspiring imagery, San Francisco Travel collaborated with local and San Francisco-connected musicians to reimagine Judy Garland’s beloved rendition of the classic “San Francisco” song for its campaign video, adds SFTA.

“We chose a soundtrack that matched the campaign’s energy and uplifting message and tapped into San Francisco’s legendary local music scene to reimagine the song. “The result is a beautiful artistic collaboration true to San Francisco’s spirit,” says Bruni-Perkins.

SFTA says that the campaign assets will be included in high-impact media in the cities of New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Houston, including linear TV (conventional TV), connected TV (CTV), and digital out-of-home (DOOH). Through programmatic advertising, video commercials, paid social media, OTA alliances, and earned media, the campaign will also include a strong digital media component. In the upcoming months, a consumer sweepstakes contest with five San Francisco experiences, including a “ultimate” package with special access to attractions and events, will be launched in the United States.

A domestic campaign that started on May 30, will run through October 22. Digital marketing initiatives for Always San Francisco will be run internationally in Australia, India, Asia Pacific, Europe, Canada, and Mexico, adds the statement.

It goes on to say that the USD 6 million plus campaign is funded by a sub-grant from Visit California, a grant from San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, San Francisco Travel, and industry stakeholders. San Francisco’s tourism industry has steadily recovered since the city’s reopening in 2021. This year, San Francisco Travel has forecasted 23.9 million visitor arrivals and visitor spending of USD 8.9 billion, an increase of USD 1 billion compared to 2022.