SAN FRANCISCO – A newly released report shows that California has experienced a significant drop in international tourism.

Visit California, a nonprofit that promotes tourism to the Golden State, said international tourist visits from Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, and Australia, among other countries, are down 15% to 26% this year.

In March, international tourism dropped 11% compared to the same month the previous year.

For four decades, Kervan Samuel has been a street musician at Fisherman’s Wharf.

“I’m seeing less, I’m seeing fewer tourists. You’re not seeing the real spending type of tourists that we had a couple months ago,” Samuel said.

In San Francisco, though foreigners make up about a third of tourists, they spend almost twice as much money. Major attractions, such as Pier 39, said it has been business as usual so far, but they face a potential triple whammy this fall: gift shops might not have enough merchandise, much of which is imported, not enough diners, and a big drop in foreign tourism.

“We haven’t seen any impacts yet on international visitors. What we are expecting is that many people right now internationally are keeping the trips that they already had planned,” said Pier 39 CEO Scott Gentner.

Hotels are doing alright for now.

“We’re keeping a very close eye on the numbers into our airport. And we’re paying attention to the patterns and practices of travelers, and we recognize there’s a lot of uncertainty right now in the air,” said Alex Bastian of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.

For San Francisco International Airport, the only negative upcoming sign has to do with Canadian tourists.

“We do know that some of the Canadian carriers are adjusting their summer travel schedule, citing some softer than usual demand,” said SFO spokesman Doug Yakel.

Going into May is just the edge of the traditional vacation holiday season, so whatever numbers exist may be skewed for a lot of reasons. But come five or six weeks from now, we’ll have a clearer idea of how this has impacted the tourist trade.

“I don’t think that’s impacting travel as much as ICE is. People are afraid that if you don’t have the exact perfect paperwork, you can get picked up,” said Curtis Sparks, a Seattle cruise passenger.

“But I have heard a lot of people being very, very negative with the tariffs. Yes,” said Seattle cruise passenger Joe Bahr.

The acid test comes as soon as school’s out and for the 100 days that follow.

• California’s “SUN Bucks” program will provide over 4 million eligible children with $120 each on EBT cards for food purchases during summer break.
• The program aims to combat childhood hunger during the summer months when school meals are unavailable.

Millions of children across California will receive “SUN Bucks” to purchase food during the summer school break.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, announced the return of the food program that is expected to help feed over 4 million eligible California children.

The Sun Bucks EBT cards can be used to purchase groceries starting in June, and each eligible child will receive $120, state officials said. 

“It’s absolutely essential that no kid in California go hungry – especially during the summer months when school meals aren’t available,” Newson said. “We’re proud to administer the SUN Bucks program and lead the nation in beating childhood hunger.”

How SUN Bucks work

Most children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals through a school meal application or Universal Benefits Application, or receive CalFresh, CalWORKs, and/or Medi-Cal benefits (certified at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level), are automatically enrolled. 

Children in foster care, experiencing homelessness, or attending Head Start are also categorically eligible and are automatically enrolled. 

Children who are not determined to be automatically eligible may apply by submitting a school meal application or Universal Benefits Application to their school or school administrator’s office by Sept. 1, to receive SUN Bucks benefits for summer 2025.

Putting food on tables

“We’re excited to see SUN Bucks return for the summer of 2025,” said Jennifer Troia, California Department of Social Services director. “Last year, this program not only helped put food on the table for millions of California families, but it also bolstered local economies where food benefits were spent.”

Per federal rules, funds must be used within 122 days of funds being added to the card. Any unused funds on the card will expire after 122 days. Expired benefits cannot be replaced. 

California was one of the first states in the nation to launch SUN Bucks in the summer of 2024. 

In its first year, nearly $500 million in food purchases were made and the families and caregivers of more than 4.3 million California children activated their SUN Bucks cards. 

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

Palm trees might line the boulevards of Los Angeles. But when it comes to style and functionality — perhaps no other plant represents our city better than succulents.

They are great for our arid climate, almost impossible to kill and as trendy as they are commonsensical. Where once they were a rarity among the manicured lawns of Southern California, now they are a staple in yards and office cubicles.

And for the super fans, whose itch can not be scratched by cruising the succulent aisle at Home Depot, there are clubs built specifically around their botanical obsession.

“This is what we’re talking about, people who go cross-eyed with lust when they see something that they would love to have as part of their collection,” said Debra Lee Baldwin, a succulent expert in San Diego who runs a popular YouTube channel dedicated to the plants.

“We’re talking about a whole different mindset here with these people appreciating the plants for different reasons from the stampede of the general public,” she said.

Those are the folks who show up at the many local affiliates of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. Perhaps unsurprisingly, according to Baldwin, Southern California is home to many of these meetups.

Succulent club in L.A.

Artie Chavez is a former president of the Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society, which meets the first Thursday of every month (except December) in Reseda. The L.A. affiliate has around 250 members, but anyone can attend their monthly meetups, which bring in more than 50 people each time.

These gatherings are where people talk shop, get plant care tips and earn bragging rights. “ Each month we pick a certain genus or a certain type of plant, and people bring in their plants and show them off and it’s judged,” Chavez said.

One highlight of the evening is the invited speaker. This month, the talk focused on the botanical diversity of Baja California Norte. In March, it was about the cacti and succulents in the Bolivian Highlands.

The club also holds workshops, plant swaps and plant sales — the next one is happening in mid-May.

Los Angeles’s love affair with succulents

Baldwin, who’s been writing about succulents for more than two decades, says a variety of factors contributed to the spike in the plants’ popularity.

“From the practical standpoint, you’ve got the drought,” Baldwin said. “So people are, ‘Let’s get rid of the lawn,’ but then nothing like that would’ve lasted if there wasn’t a strong aesthetic appeal.”

Then there is the cool factor. Baldwin said she knew succulents were going mainstream when she started spotting the plants at weddings.

“ Brides like to have anything fresh, new and different. They want their wedding to stand out,” Baldwin said. “ So they’re incorporating them in bouquets, and they’re sitting on tabletops, and they’re the things that people take home.”

Third is the pipeline. “The rise in more varieties becoming more available out of South Africa, out of parts of Europe, and of course the local growers,” said Baldwin, who lives in northern San Diego county, where the concentration of growers have made the area into an epicenter of the boom.

And as with so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the plants’ profile into another league.

“Before it was mostly people growing for landscaping or a collection that they kept outside,” said Chavez with Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society. During the pandemic, “many more people in apartments started collecting plants, and cactus and succulents blew up during that time.”

Way back in the days

Our love affair with succulents may feel like a recent phenomenon, but the L.A. club dates to 1935.

The group was first called the Southwest Cactus Growers, before changing its name to Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society in 1947. The nucleus of the gathering started shifting north over the next few decades, said Chavez.

“When more people started to live in the Valley that were collecting plants and having nurseries, they started to meet in the San Fernando Valley,” Chavez said.

The society was hobbyist in nature, but members were primarily in the nursery business. “ There were people that were collectors and decided, ‘Hey, we have all these plants. Let’s start selling them,’” he said.

Chavez joined the club more than four decades ago, at age 14, after he landed a part-time gig after school at a nursery called  Singers Growing Things near Cal State Northridge.

That business was hallowed ground for early succulent and cactus fans like Roxie Esterle. She and her husband were developing an interest in the plants when they walked into Singers one day.

“ We fell in love with these crazy caudiciform plants, which we still really love. The other one was a Ficus palmeri,” Esterle said.

Some 40 years later, she still has the receipt for the $7.50 they paid for one of the plants.

“ That was like a lot,” Esterle said of the purchase. “That was all we were willing to put out, you know.”

But there was no turning back. Today, Esterle is the secretary of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America and a member of the L.A. affiliate.

This week, she’s been in San Diego, hanging out with her compatriots for the national convention that is held every two years for its estimated 2,000 members.

“People have a collector gene and they genetically go to details and appreciate the minute differences between things. They like to classify, they like to organize,” she said of the folks drawn to collecting succulents. “Another characteristic is I know a number of us like to take something that looks really scraggly and make it beautiful by cleaning it up and bringing it back to good health.”

Like so many veteran collectors, Esterle has her “want list” to add to an already impressive collection of some 2,000 species at her home.

Plants aside, the one thing she really wants is for the succulent community to keep growing.

 ”One of my concerns is that it’s hard to get younger people to join a group. They’re used to everything being online,” she said, even though younger succulent fans abound.

“ Sharing information is really critical, and some of the senior members – I’m talking about 45-, 50-year members — have a tremendous amount of wisdom. So I would like to find a way to engage those people more.”

Upcoming Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society events

Monthly club meeting
Date: Thursday, May 1
Time: Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Location: ONEgeneration Senior Enrichment Center at 18255 Victory Blvd., Reseda

Spring cactus sale
Date: Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and May 18
Time: 9 a.m. to 3p.m.
Location: Tarzana Community & Cultural Center at 19130 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana

Other SoCal clubs