SF Mayor Lurie to visit Shanghai, Seoul for 1st international trip; focus on arts/culture, tourism

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's mayor is on his way to China and South Korea for his first international trip in office. The trip will focus on tourism as well as an arts and culture exchange.

Mayor Daniel Lurie heads first to Shanghai, China and then to Seoul, South Korea. Both are sister cities of San Francisco.

It's a quick trip, but Mayor Lurie hopes it will deepen ties with Chinese and Korean communities and draw more visitors to San Francisco.

In San Francisco's Chinatown, there's a lot of love for pandas.

MORE: San Francisco mayor says city in talks to bring pandas back to zoo ahead of trip to Asia

Small business owner Nancy Yu Law is holding out hope.

"I really look forward to panda coming," said Yu Law.

For now, Lurie's trip to China will not focus on panda diplomacy like Mayor London Breed's trip in 2024.

Instead, he says he is concentrating on arts and culture and strengthening ties with San Francisco's sister cities.

He released a statement saying:

"San Francisco's arts and culture scene is second to none...Visiting Shanghai and Seoul, two beloved Sister Cities of San Francisco, will allow us to deepen our relationship with Chinese and Korean communities and cultural organizations...We bring exciting new opportunities for our residents and visitors and continue to accelerate the city's economic recovery."

Many people welcome an opportunity to strengthen San Francisco's ties to China and Korea through art and culture.

Malcolm Yeung is Chief Executive Officer of Chinatown Community Development Center and is President of the San Francisco Airport Commission.

"He is lifting and taking arts and culture seriously. But I also think it's not just a roundabout vehicle but a direct vehicle to other types of beneficial relationships between economies between jurisdictions," said Malcolm Yeung, CEO of Chinatown Community Development Center and president of the San Francisco Airport Commission.

Yeung and others agree that arts and culture will bring more visitors from Asia.

MORE: Here's how much it could cost to host pandas at San Francisco Zoo, report says

It's estimated that nearly 300,000 people from China will visit San Francisco this year and 147,000 from South Korea. That's expected to generate a total of more than $840 million in economic impact.

In 2019, Chinese travelers accounted for 15% of the spending in San Francisco. They contributed $1.2 billion to the economy.

San Francisco's economy is recovering thanks to revitalization efforts. But many small businesses say they hope to see more international visitors.

Yu-Law says she doesn't see many tourists right now from Asian countries, partly because of global geopolitics. She says most visitors she sees come from Europe. Yu-Law hopes that could improve, especially after the mayor's visit to Shanghai and Seoul.

"I truly believe arts and culture will bring people together without political reason. It can also really unify people bringing together. I'm really looking forward to the mayor being successful and bringing more people to San Francisco," said Yu-Law.

"I've already been in Shanghai and now in Beijing," said Darlene Chiu-Bryant with GlobalSF. Chiu-Bryant is in Beijing -- a visit that's unrelated to the Mayor's trip. She went to China with Former Mayor Breed in 2024 as part of the "panda diplomacy trip."

Chu-Bryant applauds Mayor Lurie's efforts.

"Shanghai is the first sister city for San Francisco and in many ways, especially important for U.S.-China relations," said Chiu-Bryant. "He understands 'if I can bring more Chinese culture to the U.S., then I will have more tourists come to the U.S. to see or just to participate or enjoy between U.S. and China or more specifically between SF and Shanghai."

MORE: Mayor Daniel Lurie touts SF in 1st State of the City address: 'People are proud to live here again'

Both Yeung and Bryant hope that this trip could bolster economic relations for San Francisco.

As for pandas coming to San Francisco?

"The city and the zoo, from what I understand, are still working on it. From the airport's perspective, we think that would be a really big boon. We've always understood that whenever China sends pandas to a jurisdiction, it's like a bat signal to Chinese tourists that hey, 'that place is a good place to go. It's a place we trust.' And, if that brings more visitors from China that's to our benefit," said Yeung. "We know at the airport, pre pandemic Chinese passengers had by far the largest per passenger spend. So there's a large benefit within the airport economy. But there's also a benefit within the San Francisco economy."

The mayor's office says Mayor Lurie will head to Shanghai for several days. He will fly to Seoul on April 21 for two days. He will pay for his own trip. The SFO Tourism Fund will pay for city staff travel expenses.