San Francisco's hosting of World Series games for the third time in five years will boost the local economy in the short term and could bring visitors to the area years later, tourism officials in the city say.
Thousands of visitors are expected to spend millions of dollars in San Francisco over the weekend, when Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Fall Classic are scheduled to be played. According to the city's travel association, visitors spent close to $18 million at hotels, restaurants and stores when the Giants last appeared in the World Series in 2012. The team hosted the Detroit Tigers for Games 1 and 2 at AT&T Park that year.
The traditional tourism industries are not the only ones that stand to gain from the games.
Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of San Francisco Travel, expects a growing number of tourists to use short-term rental services like Airbnb and ride services such as Uber and Lyft on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
D’Alessandro also notes that TV broadcasts of the games will serve to market the city for years to come.