Ghirardelli Square celebrates National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
Ghirardelli Square looks for business boost on National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
Friday was National Hot Fudge Sundae Day and for the first time, Ghirardelli participated. The cost of the sundae was equal to the date ? $7.25. Ghirardelli, hoping for a boost in foot traffic.
SAN FRANCISCO - There are just certain things and places that are synonymous with San Francisco.
A Ghirardelli world’s famous hot fudge sundae is one of those tourist bucket list items.
Friday was National Hot Fudge Sundae Day and for the first time, Ghirardelli participated.
The cost of the sundae was equal to the date – $7.25. Ghirardelli, hoping for a boost in foot traffic.
The last time the company had a special sundae was in March, which saw a huge turnout.
"We saw numbers up to 40% higher than usual," said Lacey Zane, Ghirardelli’s vice president of restaurant and retail.
Both the store and square said they are currently seeing a 5% increase in foot traffic from this time last year.
Featured
Ghirardelli Square sign shining bright after complete restoration
The iconic marquee at San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square is lit up once again for the first time in months.
"We see millions of visitors a day," Alex Schweibert, senior vice president of Jamestown. "This is a place that gets a lot of foot traffic. I think one thing that is super interesting is 50% of visitors are tourists, but the other 50% are locals."
Many of those visitors are staying in hotels.
California is seeing its 13th consecutive month of hotel room demand growth, according to Visit California.
San Francisco is seeing about 2% more occupancy than the state, but about 4% greater than the U.S.
San Francisco is able to make more revenue per room.
Tourists KTVU spoke to Friday said they weren’t deterred by the price.
"It was a dream to come to [this] place to have different experiences, culture," Mariana Salgadeo, a tourist from Brazil, said.
International tourism down in California
Tourists in San Francisco said tariffs and changes in immigration policies have done much to complicate travel plans.
International arrival numbers show California is still missing a portion of its guests.
According to Visit California, in June there were 8.6% fewer international arrivals. While the top travelers still remain Canadians, it’s a 25% decrease in comparison to last June.
California has 13 priority markets that they look to.
Only Mexico and Japan showed year-over-year growth.