With the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference underway in San Francisco, Union Square is alive.

“It’s a little bit more than I thought,” said Mark Davis. “It’s beautiful, I love to see it.”

Davis and his band, Danger von Davis, are one of several that played in Union Square as San Francisco welcomed its first major conference of the year. Davis said these events are one of the key pieces of San Francisco’s economic vitality.

“The conferences bring more visibility and business,” he said. “Things are picking up a little bit. We’re obviously here at this huge conference. Our shows in the Castro — which we do first and third Tuesdays at Blush Wine Bar — are getting more and more attendance and people have been enthusiastic.”

This particular conference brings thousands of people to the city, from investors to innovators to executives and more. For many of the attendees, the city is making a good impression, whether it be a first or new one.

“This is a beautiful city,” said Bruce Ahern, an executive from South Carolina in town for the conference. “There’s a lot of charm to it,  lot more than most quote, convention cities.”

That’s music to Anna Marie Presutti’s ears. She’s the President & CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association (SF Travel).

“I mean, seeing really is believing,” she said. “We didn’t have a lot of misses last year. That’s what kind of made it so beautiful.”

When it comes to this year’s convention outlook, she says the city is continuing the progress made last year.

“Right now, 2026 looks really positive. Certainly, 2025 was a big lift over 2024,” she said.

The number of Moscone Conventions has grown year over year, per SF Travel figures.

• 2024: 25 conventions
• 2025: 34 conventions
• 2026: 38 conventions

“All of the places that we were losing business to, all of a sudden are now, ‘Oh, we want back in. We want back in to San Francisco,” Presutti said. “We’re also really looking very closely at, some of these convention centers around the country are undergoing renovations or they’re completely shifting how they’re doing business. So, we’ve been able to pull from there.”

Looking at 2026 as a whole, SF Travel projects just over 24 million visitors this year, and it estimates they’ll spend $9.83 billion.

“I think what happens is when people come, particularly for a conference, they’re pleasantly surprised,” Presutti said. “Then, they go home and they tell two people, and those two people tell two people, and that’s what we’ve seen happen over the course of the last 18 months.”

Presutti said last year, a partnership with United Airlines allowed SF Travel to fly out San Francisco skeptics who were reluctant to book business in the city.

“It was sort of a see-it-for-yourself campaign. Rather than us telling you about it, why don’t you come and see it for yourself?” she said. “We closed over 70% of those.”

One big question mark for 2026?

“The only thing that is still sort of, up in the air? The international piece,” Presutti said. “That is very geopolitical right now, so we’re not really sure how that is going to behave this year.”

The “Homecoming” is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17, and will feature several speakers, including mayor Daniel Lurie