San Francisco loses biggest convention of 2021 due to COVID-19

Travel and tourism brought $11 billion into the city in 2019

San Francisco continues to suffer business setbacks with the coronavirus pandemic.

In the latest hit, the city lost a major convention this week, one that helped bring $11 billion in travel and toursim to the city just two years ago, SFGate.com reported.

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The American College of Rheumatology canceled its convention that was scheduled to take place in November. The event was expected to draw 16,000 visitors to the Moscone Center.

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The conference would have had at least a $30 million impact on the city, according to Joe D'Allesandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.

 "They didn't feel comfortable without having specific guidelines from the state about what conferences will look like in the fall," D'Allesandro told SFGate.com. "Sixty-five percent are international delegates and there's a lot of uncertainly about international arrivals in the states."

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The Moscone Center had been fully booked for 2020 and 2021, before the pandemic.

The city typically hosts 30 to 50 major citywide conferences a year. There are currently about eight or 10 conferences scheduled through the end of the year.

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California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last month the state will fully reopen its economy on June 15 and further relax restrictions.

But there was some good news for San Francisco: State health officials announced that the city will be the first community in the Bay Area to reach the "yellow tier," the least-stringent tier of coronavirus restrictions. The move will set in motion a list of new business reopenings, including of indoor bars and entertainment venues, SFGate.com reported.

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