Presentation: Destination San Francisco

Explore how San Francisco became a global tourist destination through decades of promotional campaigns, from evocative travel posters and airline memorabilia to advertising that shaped the city’s image around the world. It is easy to take the global allure of San Francisco for granted, but “Everybody’s Favorite City” is not an international destination by chance. Quite the opposite: its appeal has been nurtured by decades of promotional efforts to make people from around the world want to come and see what the fuss is all about. For a fascinating glimpse into how the story has been spun, be on hand as former San Francisco Chronicle design critic John King and SFO Museum curator Samuel Scott dip into the archives of both the museum and the Library's History Center to show how they put together “Destination: San Francisco,” an exhibition on view at the SFO museum’s home in the International Terminal through January of 2027. It’s quite a story: the commercial airline industry has been a key player in the touristic mythmaking for 90 years, using everything from evocative travel posters to matchbooks and playing cards to stir interest. The city’s convention and visitors’ bureau, meanwhile, launched ad campaigns on all fronts and shifted its messaging to respond to changing times – but never dropping such well-known icons as Golden Gate Bridge and the cable cars from the mix. 5 p.m. - Hand's On History with San Francisco History Center archives 6 p.m. - Presentation by John King and Samuel Scott