<p>San Francisco has hired a new tourism chief who says will change the &#8220;ongoing narrative&#8221; about San Francisco as the city struggles to combat the stubborn issues of homelessness, drug use, and crime.</p>
<p>The San Francisco Travel Association, the city&#8217;s tourism and marketing organization, announced that Scott Beck will take over as president and CEO later this fall.</p>
<p>Beck currently has a similar role leading Destination Toronto, the Canadian city&#8217;s official tourism marketer. Before his Toronto stint, Beck was head of Visit Salt Lake, Salt Lake City’s tourism bureau for 14 years.</p>
<p>Beck <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-tourism-new-official-city-s-biggest-struggle-18355613.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle that his biggest challenge will be the “ongoing narrative about San Francisco as a monolithic experience, when it’s clearly not.”</p>
<p>Beck added that media coverage of San Francisco&#8217;s safety is “not 100% accurate.”</p>
<p>“Urban cities across the country are struggling with a lot of the same issues,” he said, adding that he is “committed to expressing a spectrum of experiences.”</p>
<p>San Francisco has been in the throes of a homelessness and drug crisis that has come with rampant crime for years now. The city by the bay consistently struggles to make a dent in the humanitarian crisis unfolding every day on the streets.</p>
<p>Homelessness has only gotten worse since before the pandemic. About 38,000 people are homeless in the Bay Area on a given night. That’s up 35% since 2019. More than 7,000 people are homeless in San Francisco itself.</p>
<p>Crime and open-air drug use often accompanies the homeless issue, causing businesses to flee San Francisco’s downtown, where foot traffic has thinned. A string of brands have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/att-closing-flagship-store-in-downtown-san-francisco">abandoned</a> their locations downtown recently including Whole Foods, AT&amp;T, Nordstrom, and mall company Westfield.</p>
<p>While overall crime in San Francisco is slightly down this year, certain types of violent crime are up, <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to police data.</p>
<p>Murder is up 15% to 38 murders so far this year. Robberies are up 17% to 1,855 robberies so far. Car thefts are up 12% to 4,617 thefts.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the drug crisis is still raging, although overdose deaths have dropped from their all-time high in 2020 during the thick of the pandemic.</p>
<p>In 2022, San Francisco saw 620 fatal drug overdoses, down from 640 overdose deaths in 2021. In 2020, overdose deaths spiked to 725 deaths.</p>
<p>Tourism has dropped significantly from the record levels San Francisco saw in 2019 just before the pandemic, and is not expected to recover fully for several years.</p>
<p>Nearly half of Americans, 48%, now view San Francisco as unsafe, up from just 30% back in 2006, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sf-crime-safety-national-poll-gallup-18329066.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Gallup. Views are starkly split down political lines, with 74% of Democrats believing that the city is safe, while only 32% of Republicans feel it is safe.</p>
<p>The San Francisco Travel Association has an annual budget of $33 million, and the group is currently <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-launches-6-million-ad-campaign-lure-tourists-18126690.php">running</a> a $6 million global tourism campaign, their biggest campaign ever.</p>
<p>“A strong tourism industry is vital to the city’s economy, local businesses and neighborhoods, and I am passionately committed to helping steward San Francisco’s ongoing tourism recovery,” Beck said in a statement.</p>
<p>Beck will take his position on October 30 and replace 18-year veteran Joe D’Alessandro, who is retiring.</p>

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San Francisco Hires New Tourism Boss Who Says He’ll Change ‘Ongoing Narrative’ As City Battles Drug Use, Homelessness