Visiting San Francisco, California From Overseas?

Here is some useful information for international visitors to San Francisco, California:

The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB), in partnership with San Francisco International Airport (SFO), has expanded San Francisco’s official travel Web site, www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com, to offer essential visitor information and resources in seven languages: French, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese. The SFCVB, in association with SFO, first launched its Japanese Web site http://www.sf-japan.or.jp/
in 2000 and a Chinese language Web site, www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com.cn, in December 2007. The SFCVB has offices in 11 countries, including China, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, India, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil. In 2008, San Francisco welcomed 16.4 million visitors, an increase of 1.7 percent over 2007.

Each Web site includes essential travel information most requested by international visitors to plan and navigate a trip to San Francisco; including information about currency exchange; transportation to San Francisco from SFO; departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, ground transportation and more; transportation within the city and to the surrounding areas; hotel listings and online reservations; a list of wedding resources including how to obtain a marriage license at San Francisco’s City Hall; a calendar of events; information about San Francisco neighborhoods including shopping, restaurants, nightlife, and arts and culture; as well as helpful suggestions on trip planning and attending conventions.

International visitors recorded by San Francisco International Airport (SFO) show that nearly 4.5 million passengers arrived into SFO in 2008 from international destinations. In addition, historically, over 25 percent of total hotel occupancy in San Francisco stems from visitors from outside the U.S.