San Francisco launches surprising new bid to attract tourists by highlighting crime-plagued city's most soothing feature

San Francisco is relying on an unusual feature to draw in more tourists with a surprising advertising campaign.

The crime-ridden city has been in the grips of a homelessness crisis which has seen businesses flee and residents move away. 

In an effort to regain visitors, San Francisco is hamming up an unusual feature: its cold climate. 

As swathes of the US are gripped by a dangerous, record-breaking heatwave, the coastal city is advertising its gloomy weather and lower temperatures.  

Marketers for Pier 39 have erected billboards in hot inland cities promising sweaty passersby 'it's cooler on the Bay'.

As a heat dome sits over the north east, sending the temperatures of over 270million Americans rising with the mercury reaching at least 90 degrees, San Francisco is billing itself as a safe, cool, harbor. 

The city is renowned for its fog - generated by the cold sea air and warmer surface - which keeps temperatures down.  

Randall Scott, who runs Fisherman's Wharf in the city, told the Wall Street Journal he often gloats about the city's cooler climate to his family. 

He said: 'They’ll say, ‘God it’s miserable here,’ and I’ll say, ‘It’s 58 degrees here,’ and they say, "Oh you suck!"'

Unsuspecting visitors are often surprised by the cold when they arrive, expecting it to be a hot beach town. 

Cruise operator Chris Vardijan told the Journal: 'Everyone thinks it’s going to be warm so they come in T-shirts and shorts.'

Visitors Jamie and Kelli Burmeister, of Nebraska, told the Journal they learned the hard way when taking an Alcatraz tour on a day when temperatures never climbed above 58 degrees in June. 

'The wind was the coldest part, we just layered what we have. Back in Omaha, I am in shorts from May to September.' 

The weather is an unexpected boon for the ailing city which has struggled with soaring crime and homelessness rates since the pandemic. 

Tourism is on the rise however, with visitor numbers expected to return to pre pandemic levels this year. 

In 2019 there were 26 million visitors, dropping to 10 million in 2020 and now expected to reach 24 million this year, according to the San Francisco Travel Association. 

Hotels are cashing in on the colder weather too, promising guests that they will be able to seek respite from the sweltering heat elsewhere. 

President of the Hotel Council of San Francisco Alex Bastian posted on Facebook a U.S. map of the coast-to-coast blistering heat.

He wrote: 'If you’re looking to get out of the scorching hot heat, come visit us in San Francisco! We have some of the best hotels in the world and free air conditioning.' 

Hotel Zelos launched a 'Beat the Heat in San Francisco' campaign in 2023, and this year the Hotel Castro reportedly plans to run a Chill in the The Castro promotion, after seeing 'a notable increase' in guests specifically fleeing intense heat.

Hospitality workers hope the campaigns will help boost visitor numbers after the city has spiraled into a doom loop in recent years. 

Earlier this month the desolate reality of San Francisco's hollowed out city center was laid bare by footage showing every store in an entire retail block shuttered and empty.

Lloyd Chapman of the American Small Business League visited the city's once-thriving Union Square area at the heart of its retail district.

The prime real estate was once home to outlets including Uniqlo, H&M, Rasputin Records, and Lush, but all have disappeared in a city center plagued by crime, drugs and homelessness.