San Francisco’s latest tourist campaign was dealt a blow after the owner of two of the city’s largest hotels announced this month they will no longer invest in the properties.
Park Hotels & Resorts announced on Monday they will cease paying a $725 million loan on two of their hotels in the California city, citing a number of factors including “street conditions” and a slower-than-expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the pandemic, the city has faced a perception of having high crime and a population of unhoused persons, though the city’s estimated unhoused population decreased from 2019 to 2022, according to city data.
The announcement was just days after the city launched a new campaign effort aimed at bringing tourists back to San Francisco, which has struggled to return to its pre-pandemic numbers. Hotel occupancy in the city typically remained above 80 percent prior to the pandemic, which caused that number to plummet to 14 percent. In March 2023, only 66 percent of hotel rooms in the city were occupied, according to city data.
R&I-Rawr
