Anna Marie Presutti - President & CEO, San Francisco Travel Association

San Francisco has been called everything from a cautionary tale to a comeback story, but the truth is more practical and more interesting: you have to get people back into the city so they can judge it with their own eyes. We talk with Anna Marie Presutti, President and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association and the first woman to lead the organization in its long history, about how tourism recovery really happens and what leadership looks like when you’re balancing business goals, civic expectations, public pressure, and nonstop headlines.

Anna Marie shares the origin of her leadership style through an unexpected start at Walt Disney World, where she learned that culture is built in the details and trust is earned through consistency. We dig into “surprise and delight” as a real hospitality strategy, the discipline of delivering great guest experiences even on hard days, and career advice for anyone trying to grow in hospitality, tourism, sales, or city leadership.

We also get specific about the post-pandemic shifts that still ripple through downtowns: remote work, community loss, and why being present matters for mentorship and decision-making. From major events that put San Francisco back in living rooms worldwide to partnerships that bring convention planners in for site inspections, the episode breaks down destination marketing organization tactics, convention booking realities, and the economics behind hotel occupancy tax and city recovery. We close with clear leadership principles, including when to listen, when to stop talking, and how to lead without fear of being wrong.

If you care about San Francisco travel, tourism strategy, hospitality leadership, and how great cities reinvent themselves, hit follow, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

📌 ABOUT OUR GUEST: 
🔹 Name: Anna Marie Presutti
🔹 Title: President & CEO, San Francisco Travel Association
🔹 Guests Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-marie-presutti-261b1a7/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Narrator 1 0:00

Welcome to the California Leaders Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories of the visionaries shaping the future of our region. Hosted by Christopher Luna. This podcast brings you conversations with the movers and shakers, driving innovation, leadership, and community impact across California. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a community leader, or simply someone passionate about making the difference, this podcast is your gateway to the insights and inspiration you need to lead and succeed. Get ready to get inspired by the leaders, making waves in California and beyond.

Narrator 2 0:43

A passionate advocate for the travel and tourism sector, Anna Marie serves on the boards of the U.S. Travel Association and the Bay Area Host Committee. She is also a trustee of the Missouri State University Foundation. She earned her degree in communications at Missouri State and grew up in Kansas City. Anna Marie Presutti became the first woman to serve as president and CEO of the 115-year-old San Francisco Travel Association in September 2024. She has been a tourism industry leader for over two decades and previously served twice as San Francisco Travel's board chair and on the Super Bowl 50 Bay Area Host Committee. Anna Marie's career also includes significant leadership roles at Kimpton Hotels, ITT Sheraton, Hilton Hotels, and Sunstone Hotel Properties, where she honed her expertise in hotel operations and sales strategy. Throughout her career, Anna Marie has been consistently recognized for her excellence in hospitality leadership. The San Francisco Business Times named Anna Marie among the 2026 Newsmakers 100 and honored her with the Inspire Award at its most influential women in Bay Area Business 2026 event. Anna Marie was named one of the most influential women in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and received the American Hotel and Lodging Association's Outstanding General Manager of the Year Award. Please welcome Anna Marie Presutti.

Rick Gibson 2:17

Welcome to California Leaders. My name is Rick Gibson. I'm the editor-in-chief of California Leaders Magazine, and I'll be conducting today's interview. It's my pleasure to welcome Anna Marie Presutti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Francisco Travel Association. Anna Marie is a recognized leader in hospitality and tourism, known for the bold vision, innovative partnerships, and commitment to elevating San Francisco as one of the world's premier destinations. She currently serves as the first female president and CEO in the nearly 120-year history of San Francisco travel and previously became the first female vice president of the Hotel Nico in San Francisco. Under her leadership, San Francisco continues to experience a strong tourism resurgence, attracting conventions, global events, international visitors, and significant economic investment. Her efforts have helped position the city for a new era of growth, innovation, and global relevance. Today we'll discuss her leadership journey, the future of tourism, the evolving story of San Francisco, and the opportunities ahead for one of America's most iconic cities. Please join me in welcoming Anna Marie Presutti. Welcome.

Anna Marie Presutti 3:34

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Rick Gibson 3:35

Thanks for being here.

From Disney Planes To Hotels

Anna Marie Presutti 3:36

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 3:36

Well, I'm very interested in learning more about your story. I know something from what I've seen and read, but I'd love to uh learn a little bit about you and what brought you to this point. We already mentioned that uh you are the first female president for San Francisco uh Travel Association. And um so I'd like to visit a little bit about your own personal journey and what's led you to this moment and some of the challenges and uh opportunities that you're working on right now in your current role.

Anna Marie Presutti 4:07

Yeah. Well, I started, you know, a long time ago. And my first job out of college was um at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. And I was a flight attendant on the company planes, believe it or not. And I was exposed to a lot of leadership with Disney at the time. That's who we were flying around most of the time. And was able to sort of just, you know, when you're in the air and there's only three people on a plane, you know, you're kind of together and you're chatting. And um it was just uh it was very insightful for me to be exposed to people in those positions at a very young age. And it made a big impression on me.

Rick Gibson 4:58

Yeah, no question. I mean, what an amazing opportunity to be able to just have some time to visit with people that you might not normally play cards.

Anna Marie Presutti 5:07

We were playing cards together or board games and things like that. Obviously, I mean this was quite some time ago, so there wasn't, you know, Bluetooth and all of that where everybody was stuck to an iPhone or an iPad where, you know, so you actually were forced to converse.

Speaker 5 5:23

Yeah.

Anna Marie Presutti 5:24

And um, and it was mostly an off, it was just hardly ever about work. It was just about life and where what they were doing and what their kids were going through, you know, it was just it was very casual, but it for me, you know, just being exposed to the leadership that was, you know, driving Wisney World at the time. You know, this was pre the studios at Walt Disney World, it was pre-ESPN, it was pre-ABC, but all of that was in the works. And I was just sort of learning about sort of how those deals were coming together and why it was, you know, what was provoking that. And um so I learned a lot just by listening and asking a lot of questions. It was incredibly curious and was so proud to work for that organization. So it was it was just a great and very unique, I might add, uh, beginning to all of this. Yeah, yeah.

Rick Gibson 6:26

That is amazing for that that opportunity. But you know, not everyone gets a chance to to do that. Um, I am uh uh I've been to Orlando a couple of times, but boy, down in Anaheim all the time. Yeah, had my annual passes, raised our kids part of the time there. We loved going to all of that. And I I followed some of the leadership principles that I learned. I read uh, I think it was uh called a work in progress, Michael Eisner's book, The Work in Progress. And I still use some of those principles. You know, he said the secret to Disneyland's or the Disney Park sucks success, I'm probably not quoting it right, but was clean bathrooms. It was you, you know, at the end of the day, you know, after a long day, and mom and dad are have enjoyed great entertainment, uh fun rides, uh good food, good entertainment value. But if they were to go into the restrooms at the end of the night to put their kids in the onesies for the drive home, and the bathrooms were a mess, they would inwardly say, Oh, the magic isn't real. Yeah. So I I would imagine there's some amazing uh and important uh principles that you learned on those plane flights that are probably still sticking with you. Um does any come

Small Details That Create Magic

Rick Gibson 7:40

to mind?

Anna Marie Presutti 7:40

You know, it it's interesting because I recall it, you know, being raised in the Midwest, all of my friends' parents and kids that we grew up with, they were all Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, right? So you enter this Disney culture and everybody goes by a first name. And that I remember being very difficult for me because of my instinct was to say Mr. Eisner, Mr. Wells, whatever the case was. And um, but the one thing that Michael Eisner did, I want I I remember it so well that all the employees who wanted to go, and it seemed like everyone, lined Main Street. And uh Michael Eisner and Frank Wells started at the top of Main Street and they shook every single person's hand all the way down. Main we were just we stood shoulder to shoulder, and then they switched sides and they came back the other side. And I just remember, you know, looking this was before I was flying, and um I just remember thinking what an exorbitant amount of time that took for them to do that, right? But what an impact it had. And I just think that that was as you mentioned, you know, he was just sort of deep rooted in these small details that made such a big difference and impact on whether you were a cast member or you were the person who was changing your kids in the bathroom, you know. That's why people leave Disney still to this day, and they still talk about how clean the parks are. You know, it's it's the one thing that everybody talks about. But it was it is the thing that makes people want to come back. It feels safe, it feels secure, it's clean, it's you know, it's family quality fun. And um, in fact, I just came up there from from up from down there to Anaheim to here today.

Speaker 5 9:42

Right.

Anna Marie Presutti 9:43

And um last night we had an event and we went out into the California Adventure, and there was a private viewing area, and you know, I've just I'm such I I observe so much the the people, and all I was watching is just these families, and it just it never ceases to amaze me, just how people will flock to that experience, you know, year after year. And um, somebody still gave me a statistic that you know the majority of the people that go to Disney are repeat, like you were saying, they're just repeat guests, and they've just built an amazing foundation on that.

Rick Gibson 10:18

Yeah, for sure. Well, I I had mentioned earlier about my daughter, and she just celebrated a graduation. She's there today. Oh, it's that that is how they're celebrating, you know. They love to go back, and it's just a fun time. And it doesn't feel like they've really even ever come to their or reached the limit of what they can charge. People continue.

Anna Marie Presutti 10:37

It's fascinating to me, isn't it? You know, I mean, working in the business too. You know, you take I took so much of what I learned at Disney and I was able to apply it in the hotel space. And it's all about surprise and delight. And we still use that phrase at SF Travel, where I currently am. You know, it we are showing up in places that will surprise and delight people, aligning ourselves with like-minded brands who bring joy to people, i.e. the Rose Parade. I told you we were in that last year. And, you know, that's really uh that's really Disney's secret sauce. Continue to surprise and delight people. And and that's stuck with me, and it has it through all my hotel years, you know, that's it's difficult to provide great a great guest experience.

Speaker 5 11:31

Consistently.

Anna Marie Presutti 11:32

Consistently. It's really hard.

Speaker 5 11:34

Yeah.

Anna Marie Presutti 11:34

You know, you come into work and you've had a bad day at home, or your kids are sick, or whatever the case is, and you have to step on stage, you know, and and forget about all that and give that person who's spending hard-earned money a great experience.

Rick Gibson 11:49

Yeah. You mentioned Kansas City or Kansas, but I just came back uh Missouri. Kansas City, Missouri. Okay, sorry, yeah. All right, sorry, let me let me get it right. Um yeah, I I did a visit there um, I don't know, a couple years ago now, and it was in Kansas City. We were at the uh uh Union Station Grandson. Oh, sure, yeah. The big train station there was a lot of things.

Anna Marie Presutti 12:12

Union station.

Rick Gibson 12:13

And down below it was uh they had um the art of Disney because while Disney went to art school there, so much um Midwestern um influence values uh were involved in developing you know the Disney experience. And then now I'm hearing we have somebody from that part of the country. Yeah, how did you make your way to San Francisco of our place?

Moving For Growth In Hospitality

Anna Marie Presutti 12:42

Yeah, well, you know, in this business, you sort of get transferred a lot initially. Um, right out of college, I went to school in Missouri, and right out of college I went to work at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, as I mentioned. And from there was transferred actually here to Los Angeles. And I spent about six years down in Orlando and then came here and was in and ended up taking a job just down the street here. Um, but opened a hotel in the Glendale area, the Hilton in Glendale, and then came here to the Grand Hotel. Um and then from here was transferred to Arizona, and then Arizona went to Park City, Utah. But between Arizona and Park City, Utah, there was a three-month period where I landed in San Francisco and was situated there, and just as I got situated, they transferred me again to Park City. And I went to Park City um for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and I had was overseeing about nine properties in Utah, and so was tasked with getting those contracts situated for the Olympics and you know working through all that, and then from Park City back to San Francisco, where I've been since just just right after the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Rick Gibson 14:18

There's so many different ways I'd love to go into this conversation, but I am interested as I think about uh what I know about some of our listeners. They are wondering about their careers, how do they advance them?

Anna Marie Presutti 14:29

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 14:29

Um is being willing to move part of that?

Anna Marie Presutti 14:32

It was in this industry, you know, in the hospitality and tourism industry, it was at one point with every promotion, you landed up having to take another move, it seemed. And uh I think people got it that became very tiring and taxing on, especially people with families.

Speaker 5 14:54

Right.

Anna Marie Presutti 14:54

You know, you're picking up your five-year-old and then your 10-year-old and moving schools and things of that nature. And that was really difficult. So I think uh that stopped, you know, because there was this people wanted quality of life and they wanted their kids to be grounded and, you know, all of the right things, right? So it was at the time, you know, promotions meant you usually had to take a move. And I don't think that's the case anymore in this industry. I always, though, my father worked for Brock's candy for about 26 years, and that was the same with him. I remember we moved a lot as a family because with every promotion it went to a different region or a different, you know, spot. So it required us to move. I thought it was fun and fascinating, but I can see where that would be very daunting for particularly a family. Um I think just leadership now is you know, people are so consumed with how do I get to the next spot, the next level. And I always just say, just do what you're doing now well. And if you do what you're doing now well, someone's gonna pay attention and they'll notice. And also be very clear about what you want to do. Don't be afraid to say and ask, what do you think my next move is? So that you can at least kind of have a path towards where you want to go. But you're not going anywhere if you're not doing the job that you have right now well.

Rick Gibson 16:36

Yeah.

Anna Marie Presutti 16:37

So start with that.

Rick Gibson 16:39

Right, right. Yeah, that is so interesting because the way we live, the way we work has all changed, certainly post-pandemic, right?

Anna Marie Presutti 16:46

Yep.

Rick Gibson 16:46

Uh, you know, there are some people are working in the office, some are working remotely at home. Uh I know somebody who has uh a job and she lives in Los Angeles. Uh she hotels in a Los Angeles office while working for the New York team.

Speaker 5 17:06

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 17:07

It's really a strange thing. Um I wonder, you know, it seems like something is lost though, with with all of that. You know, some sense of community, some sense of belonging. At the end of the day, some of that has to happen in in person, right? Yeah.

Why Offices Still Matter

Anna Marie Presutti 17:22

Well, you know, we uh pre-pandemic were in the office five days a week. And then the pandemic comes and you know we couldn't, there was enough ordinances that were put into place in San Francisco where you could only have so many people in the office at one time, yeah. It was something like that. And then uh of course post-pandemic coming out, you know, this the city centers were really struggling. And I remember standing in line at a coffee shop, and this woman was um she was standing in front of me and she just turns and she goes, Gosh, I really miss my old coffee shop. I you know, the one that was down the street. And I was like, Oh, I said, Did it close? You know, during the pandemic, so many of those little small businesses close, and she says, Yes. She goes, That's why you hate coming to work. You know, we we're required to be in the office one day a week. And I said, But that's probably why that coffee shop closed. She goes, What do you mean? And I said, Well, if you're not here to support it, you know, the deli down the street, the dry cleaners, the shoemakers, you know, the the florist that you'd grab a bundle of flowers before you headed home, you know, they're not there because you're not here. And she goes, God, I never really thought about it like that. You know, it's not always up to someone else. Sometimes you have to be part of the solution. So I we we came back into our offices four days a week. Um, one day you can work remote. But I find myself going in, and I think a lot of people do five days a week, particularly this very the the the youngest generation, you know, the kids that just got out of college, they want that sense of community. They want to be around. They they're thriving and doing so much better because they have they can ask questions and they can, you know, get up and walk into my office and be like, hey, what what do you think about, you know, blank? Um and there is that sense of community when you are all in an office together. You you're not sitting on a Zoom or you're not sending somebody an email. I mean, somebody will send me an email and I get up and I walk across the office and I just answer the question. You know, it to me, like I don't know.

Rick Gibson 19:38

I'm sorry, the email came from just down the hall.

Anna Marie Presutti 19:40

Yeah, yeah. You know, I'll be on it or whatever. I maybe it's to me directly, or it could be a group of people, and I'll just walk down and plop down in front of somebody and say, let's talk about that. That, you know, and that didn't happen and doesn't happen, obviously, if you're not in the office and you're not present. And I think also when you're not in the office and you're not around that community, you start to lose relevance because the decisions don't wait for you to come into the office. The decisions are gonna happen if you're there or not. And if you're not there, you know, the trains still leaving the station. So I think that uh the folks that are working remote are they do feel a little bit left out. Now, in some cases, we have remote salespeople that are in market, and there's no way around that. You know, if I have somebody um in Chicago, I need them in Chicago to sell. I need you there to work that market. But if you live in San Francisco and you represent the city like we do, then you need to be in the city. Right. That's where you need to be. That makes sense, right? So, and if and if you're working on a project and you're not in the office, we're not stopping the decision-making process to zoom you in if you're not there. It's just not happening. We we need to move very quickly and make decisions, and you should probably be in the room where it happens. Yeah, yeah. Right.

Rick Gibson 21:13

Well, I think that's I don't think we've fully grasped all that the pandemic has done to us. Oh no. The long tail of that will be with us for a for a long time, don't you think? I it's changed the way we live, the way we travel, the way we uh work. Yep.

Anna Marie Presutti 21:32

It it's it changed it changed everything. It changed, you know, I think about the kids who were in high school or college during that time period. You know, like that that college experience, what a different exper a different experience it was for them versus what it was for, you know, us or the generation before them. So I think um, yeah, it absolutely has a profound. Impact.

Rick Gibson 22:00

Yeah. And we haven't fully seen yet what that is. It'll begin to reveal itself in different ways. I mean, think about what you benefited from by just simply being not just in the room, but on the plane where that's right. Conversations and you were with leaders when their guard was down, when they were kind of relaxed.

Speaker 6 22:20

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 22:21

I mean, um, when you think of mentorship and working with with uh your your team, uh so much of that must happen in person.

Anna Marie Presutti 22:29

It does. I think it's first of all, having just exposure and feeling comfortable to just walk in my office and say, hey, did you see the blh? You know all of that matters. All of it matters. And it's and it's those little it's those little firecracker moments that you're having with people. You know, not everything has to be a stick of dynamite and goes, you know, there can be those little firecracker moments. And I I think that it's way undervalued.

Rick Gibson 23:03

You know, I think I will borrow the firecracker metaphor. I mean that's that's exactly right. It's not just, oh, I need to be at this critical meeting.

Speaker 5 23:10

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 23:11

Think synergy ideas happen sometimes spontaneously, right? Yeah. No, I I I do understand that there's real power of being together, and uh, and we and we are still again trying to figure out what does that mean for us now that sort of the social contracts have changed around commuting, about working and and and being together or being remote. So there's no question.

Rebuilding San Francisco Reputation

Rick Gibson 23:34

I know it also impacted your world in San Francisco and travel in general.

Speaker 6 23:38

Yes, it did.

Rick Gibson 23:39

I'll circle back to that in a minute. I'm very interested in what seems to me to be, I mean, I just listened to uh uh a podcast this morning uh where they were talking about how San Francisco has made a huge comeback. And um and uh, you know, with all due respect to my LA friends, uh LA is trying to get there too. But we're even having an election today. Yeah. That's questioning how much how back are we yet, right? Um but they were really just saying that there's been a a real um uh resurgence or a renaissance, if you will, uh in San Francisco. And I want to get to that.

Speaker 6 24:17

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 24:18

But I read in a recent interview once that uh that you noted that leaders today are being asked to navigate business goals, public pressures, civic expectations, and political cross currents all at the same time. Yeah. Frankly, that seems impossible.

Anna Marie Presutti 24:35

It is impossible to do it all well, anyway. I think, you know, you in some cases, and I I liken this to working in the hotel because, you know, when you're overseeing a large hotel with food and beverage and operations, and you know, people think of a hotel as, oh, I check in, I check out, I have a housekeeper behind in the back of the house, you know, there's a huge laundry facility that's being executed. And, you know, there's you might have a 550-room hotel with equally as many employees, you know, five to six hundred employees. And it's a city, it's a it's a small city in the back. And as the general manager, the vice president, you know, you're not flying at ground zero all the time. You know, you've got your sales and marketing, and you, like I said, food and beverage operations, human resources, engineering, you know, there's all accounting, all of these departments. And, you know, the key and the trick was to sort of try and maintain a 15,000 foot level. And then if one of those departments was struggling, then you get in, but then you fly out is, you know, you kind of get in, try to be a problem solver and help with the solution, and then you get out of it and you let your people figure out how they're gonna move forward. And that is very similar to what you just described in this DMO space or destination marketing organization space, because you can't do it all well all the time. So again, maintaining that 15,000 foot level, but then when you know the political scheme scene starts to, you know, tap you on the shoulder, you kind of get down in there, but you got to get out too. Um so I I oftentimes think that with leadership, you do get pulled in so many different directions. And particularly in tourism and hospitality, your instinct is to always say yes because that's that's the business we're in. We're in the business of yes, we're in the business of surprise and delight, we're in the business of you know trying to please a customer. And uh the reality is you saying no sometimes is actually better, not just better for me or better for you, but it's just better. You can't do it all. And it is really difficult, I think, in leadership to to recognize that I'm not a superhero. I can't do it all. I have to really be specific and intentional with where I'm gonna put my energy today.

Rick Gibson 27:12

Yeah. No, I understand that. And then out of nowhere could come an attack on, you know, um the the um what whatever the issue might be in San Francisco and in Los Angeles. Uh, you know, I know that the um West Coast and some of my own family will call it the left coast. Yes, right. You've probably heard that.

Speaker 6 27:33

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 27:33

Um they'll they'll lob uh really unfounded even criticisms at times, and so suddenly that's in the news, and you're having to pivot, you know, right, and defend. And defend, right?

Anna Marie Presutti 27:44

We defended for a long time uh during and post-pandemic, and you know, we had some fortunately, we had some really big events, the NBA All-Star Game, the Labor Cup. Um, we had a new mayor get elected. Um, then we had we came out with this year with the Rose Parade float, then we went straight into Super Bowl, and now we're headed into FIFA. So all of those things put us on the world map because we were in people's living rooms for all of those events, and they started to see and hear, they saw the beautiful city that we have and live in, and all the icons, the cable cars, and the painted ladies and the bridge, and you know, it could the list goes on and on. But then they started hearing from the broadcasters I I didn't expect this, and it was the same thing that we kept we had been hearing for you know three years prior that this is not nothing like what they said it was on TV. This is nothing like what I thought it was gonna be. And then we started talking to more and more customers, and we joined a partnership with United Airlines where we flew people out, two people out to do site inspections if you had an active RFP to book a piece of business in the city. Because the way I looked, I could talk about it till I was blue in the face. But it really was this whole notion of seeing is believing. And when they came out, they were like, We got it wrong. And I yes, you did get it wrong, and here you are. And we've signed more business in the last two years than we ever have just because we got people into the market to see that it what whatever you were hearing was in fact incorrect.

Speaker 5 29:37

Right.

Anna Marie Presutti 29:37

So, or seeing was old footage, and it's not to say that we didn't slip and fall and we lost our way a bit. Um, but you know what that showed is don't ever bet against San Francisco. That's a bad bet. Yeah, you know, and people realize that really quick.

Rick Gibson 29:54

Oh yeah, yeah. No, I I we we have experienced something similar here, and and um and and some of it, as you say, is true. I mean, you know, uh there are there are things that are amiss. I mean, we we would love to think that we surprise and delight. And I think that sometimes the surprise is, you know, not what was expected. I mean, at the end of the day, um, you know, the the this is a tr a marketing business, right? You're marketing the city and uh marketers are expected to make claims, yeah, but they're unverified until you get there and see for yourself. That's right. And like you say, seeing is believing. Um, there are some hurdles that you've overcome, and there is a comeback in San Francisco. I'm assuming there's a partnership with the city on this too. Absolutely. And that you in your own role are very much involved with

City Hall Partnership And Tourism Dollars

Rick Gibson 30:44

that. Yeah. My figure figures uh may be old, and I don't need to get hung up on figures, but you're looking at a massive amount of uh guests in the city in a given year, and to the tune of nearly $10 billion worth of business that's uh into the economy because of short tourism. Yeah. My numbers may be old, but I'm wondering what is that's a good partnership like with the city itself?

Anna Marie Presutti 31:11

Well, like I said, we have a new mayor who's uh took office, he's been in office now a little over a year, and um he was very steadfast in knowing what needed to be cleaned up, and he also recognized very quickly what how the general fund was being fueled and realized that the TOT tax coming through the hotels was the number one contributor to his general fund. So he figured out I have to promote and help tourism so that the hotels are fuller because it was all filtering through that. And you know, all boats rise in this high tide. So if the hotels are full, the restaurants will be full and retail will be active, and the turnstiles at the attractions and museums will be more plentiful and all of that. So it was this trickle-down effect, and he got it very, very quickly, where administrations prior to his took it for granted because we were San Francisco and we'd always been, you know, running at 80 some odd percent occupancies, and our daily rates were quite high, and um everybody wanted to come to San Francisco, and then it was just like the screech of the brakes hit during the pandemic, and we had to bring that back. So he's done a really nice job and his administration of understanding the impact of tourism and then doing what he needs to do so I can go and do what I do, and that has been this nice partnership. And we've done a couple of um town hall sessions together, and you know, we're we're both singing from the same hymn book, which is great. So I think I think it's been a really nice relationship and partnership, more importantly, than anything. And anytime you have a public official who values your industry, and you know, and that's hard because every industry is screaming for that attention. And we haven't had to scream for attention at all because he's been that invested in it. And so it's just made it's it's certainly made things easier for us to sell the city, and obviously the work that he's doing has we've seen great improvements within the city.

Rick Gibson 33:42

Yeah. Seems like it's a dangerous idea to get so comfortable that you think, hey, we're San Francisco, or hey, we are whatever. You I I would imagine every city does it though.

Anna Marie Presutti 33:53

We're all we never learn from one another, you know.

Rick Gibson 33:56

It's so funny. You have to keep earning it, right?

Anna Marie Presutti 33:58

Yeah, you just have to keep fighting the good fight, you know. And now it's not just these gateway cities that are interesting to people. It is, you know, we're competing San Francisco, Los Angeles. We compete not with just Vegas and Orlando and New York, but we're competing with Salt Lake City and Indianapolis. And they've all moved to this come visit these destinations because there is more than just these giant cities. You know, get out into the country and see what we have to offer. And everybody's leaning into that. And I was just in Louisville, and I think it Louisville is such a great destination. It's it's small, it's but it's mighty. And they they lean into the two things that they're known for, and they don't waver horse horse racing and bourbon. And that's it, you know, and that they do it, and they do it so well. It's they're just excellent at that. Yeah, and I think um there's a lot to be said for that, you know, know who you are, promote who you are, and do it well. Right. And that they they do it extraordinarily well.

Rick Gibson 35:12

Yeah, and then the unverified claim is verified.

Anna Marie Presutti 35:16

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 35:16

And then neighbor tells neighbor, friend tells friend. Yeah, yeah. Uh no, my uh eldest daughter is uh traveling the country over several years to go to every major league baseball park.

Anna Marie Presutti 35:27

She's checking them off her list, she has a little binder of photos and well Oracle Park in San Francisco is truly the best. I can tell her that. Yes, well, she's straight in.

Rick Gibson 35:36

She's been she's been there. Okay. Now, heads up, we're Dodger fan family, but we're still we could still be uh friends. Um no, it's a beautiful park, right there on the water like that. Oh my gosh, it's just lovely.

Anna Marie Presutti 35:48

I think anytime you can go to a ballpark and you can look out and you know exactly where you are because the ballpark is part of the fabric of the city. It drives me nuts when I get to a ballpark, and it could be in any any city USA. It wouldn't matter. And you don't know where you are, but when you're in a ballpark and you you know where you are, and the and and it is become part of the fabric, and it's just it's really special.

Rick Gibson 36:18

And I love that you can walk to that ballpark.

Anna Marie Presutti 36:20

Oh, it's so great. Yeah, it's so great.

Rick Gibson 36:23

No, I I I I think it's a beautiful park, and I've enjoyed games there even when we lost to the Giants.

Anna Marie Presutti 36:28

Um Yeah, well, that's not happening these days so much, is it?

Rick Gibson 36:32

No, no, right, right. But we'll see.

Anna Marie Presutti 36:34

Mr. Otani has kind of cleaned that whole thing up, hasn't he?

Rick Gibson 36:37

I think Buster Posey is gonna turn it around.

Anna Marie Presutti 36:39

Yes, he's an icon.

Rick Gibson 36:40

He's an icon. He is a base if you love baseball, you love Busters.

Anna Marie Presutti 36:45

Oh, yeah, and so much so my dog's name is Buster Posey. So there it is.

Rick Gibson 36:49

You know, perfect, perfect. Yeah, well, um back to partnering with the city for

Selling Value In An Expensive City

Rick Gibson 36:54

just a minute. Yeah. You you all work through something or have to deal with something that we do here. We live in two of the most expensive places in the world to live, right? Yes. Um there are initiatives and policy decisions being made around uh minimum wage and a living wage for uh tourism workers and and all that kind of thing. Um I'm assuming you're involved in trying to uh figure that all out, negotiate all that, make that work, because you do need people who can represent the city and still live in the city or near the city, right? Yeah, it's a real challenge, isn't it? Because it makes it it makes the the attraction of a uh of getting an event to a convention center expensive. I know it's the case here. Um you know it I don't I doubt that it's an intractable problem, but it feels like it's a pretty big issue that's it can be, you know, and I will tell you the way we sell against that, I guess, is maybe the best way to say it, is um you might spend a little bit more when you bring a convention to the city.

Anna Marie Presutti 38:03

But we can demonstrate that you'll also have more attendees come because people want to come to San Francisco. So your attendee count is gonna go up, which means your revenue stream will also go up. So, yes, you might pay more, but we can also show you very clearly with lots of history with other programs that you will make more as a result of putting your program in San Francisco. So um, you know, and that isn't just a pitch, that's actually true. Right now, with regards to the expense of living in a city, you know, that's I think that's what makes San Francisco so great is yeah, it can be really expensive. Any find me a city that's not really expensive, and but there's also so much to do that is completely free, and that's the joy of living in California where the weather is amazing all year round. So you can, you know, go to all of the parks, and there's so many free, whether it's exhibits or places to go and see and explore, to go in our city and take a walk down Lombard Street or go to Fisherman's Wharf or you know, take a trolley or a cable car up and over the hill, like those things don't cost a lot of money to do it, but your experience is still equally as rich. So I think, and we have everything from the most luxurious hotels down to really nice hotels that are a better, you know, maybe better for your wallet. So I would say that as long as you have diversity in what you're offering for all income levels, you'll be okay. It's when you don't have the diversity and people don't have things to do that aren't gonna, it's gonna cost them way too much. But that's the great thing about our city, and people can come and they don't have to spend. You can go to a great ramen shop, you know, for hardly anything. You know, go into Chinatown and great get some great dim sum, and that's not gonna cost you a ton of money. So I think there you can do it on the way high end, or you can do it on whatever budget that you've you've allocated for yourself. You're gonna have there'll be great something great for you to do and experience.

Rick Gibson 40:33

Yeah, I mean, I think the last time I was there, I had a great day. Uh Golden Gate Park, Japanese Tea Garden, De Young Art Museum. Is it De Young?

Anna Marie Presutti 40:43

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 40:44

Uh, and then uh a visit to Amoeba Records, and then uh back to the hotel, and we were exhausted. We had and we had just had a great day, you know.

Anna Marie Presutti 40:52

Yeah, and you didn't spend a ton of money.

Rick Gibson 40:54

No, no, and it was a beautiful day. Yeah, and so you're right. There, there's there's there's a high-end part of San Francisco, there is a bohemian type part of San Francisco. Um Frankly, I mean, you know, there's really no place quite like it. It really is amazing uh and a wonderful place to visit. And uh there's just no question about that. It you know, a lot of cities will say they're iconic, or they may have iconic elements, but the city itself is iconic.

Anna Marie Presutti 41:23

Well, even when I was talking to one of the folks that was here earlier, and I said, you know, San Francisco's small, it's seven miles by seven miles, and he was like, What? And I'm like, well, yeah, you know, yeah, it's 49 square miles. It is not a large city, and it's under a million people. It behaves like a large city. Um, it feels very European to people when they come. It has this, you know, it's very walkable, and there's really nowhere you can go that you can't walk to, or there's great public transportation there. That's the other thing that makes it so easy. Um and now, you know, San Francisco is one of the only places that you can take the oldest form of transportation, which is a cable car. Yes, and share the roadway right next to you will be the newest form of transportation, which is a driverless vehicle. Right. So they share the same roadway. You know, the irony is incredible, but it is really, it is really special. And it's ironic to me. We were talking about the Zooks and the Waymo's of the world, but that those have become an attraction in and of themselves. That's right.

Rick Gibson 42:27

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I on the way in today, I looked in front of me, behind me, beside me. Uh, there were no other drivers, there were people in the back seat, but Waymo was everywhere down there.

Speaker 5 42:37

Yeah.

FIFA Plans And Convention Backup

Rick Gibson 42:38

Um, FIFA is a big deal, World Cup. Yep. Uh tell me about San Francisco, what it's doing. I'm interviewing, by the way, the artist who did the uh poster for the Bay Area. Oh, that's so great.

Anna Marie Presutti 42:48

He came into our offices and I had a lovely photo shoot with him. He was great.

Rick Gibson 42:52

Yeah. Um tell me about what's going on, what what's happening in the Bay Area with uh FIFA?

Anna Marie Presutti 42:58

So we've saw us, right? Yeah, it's coming. It's like a week or two away. Um well, here's what's interesting, and it's sort of the firecracker dynamite uh analogy once again, but FIFA will behave very differently than Super Bowl. You know, Super Bowl comes in and it's like boom, it's one giant stick of dynamite and it lasts for you know one week and then it's that's that. But FIFA spreads out over the course of a month or so-ish. And um, so it's little firecrackers more than anything. So we'll have a lot of activations in the city for fan fests and things like that. Um, the game itself will take place down at Levi Stadium. Yes. Or actually, I think they're what are they calling them? They changed all of the names of the stadiums to the city's names. So it won't, they won't be Levi Stadium. It'll say, you know, San Francisco or Santa Clara. I don't know what this is gonna say. Anyway, same as here.

Speaker 6 43:57

Right.

Anna Marie Presutti 43:57

So um so. So it the games will be down there. People will come into SFO most likely as a gateway airport, spend some time in San Francisco and then head down and see the game or games. So I think you know, we obviously tourism has not had the positive impact that we were hoping for with FIFA. That's a lot of geopolitical stuff happening. There's a lot of noise in that space.

Rick Gibson 44:31

We have the same experience here, right?

Anna Marie Presutti 44:33

Yeah. And every every FIFA city is across the country. Yeah. Not just here, it's it's everywhere. We all kind of went wonk, mwok, wonk, you know. But what happened in San Francisco is we didn't depend on FIFA. Um we booked mm several back-to-back citywide conventions throughout the month of June. So FIFA was the cherry on top, or to be the cherry on top. And I still think it will be. I still think fans will come and they'll experience the city. They probably won't stay for as long as we originally intended them or would hope that they would, but that's okay because we had already laid down some really nice programming, and then we'll experience, you know, the FIFA crowds as they come and go.

Rick Gibson 45:23

Yeah, it's sort of like, oh, by the way, here's our convention, here's our event, here's our whatever. And there is, you know. Yeah, I rec I recall um what was it? Oh, it was sales, it was the Salesforce, uh-huh. The annual Salesforce conference. And I I was amazed there was sod on streets. Oh yeah. And I mean, they had turned uh a lovely part of the city into a park. Yes. And it was amazing, and the conference was great, it was important, it was well done, all of that. And then, oh, by the way, um, Bruno Mars is playing, and we're gonna go out for that. And um, I was just amazed all that you could do. I mean, it was not hard to get, it was not hard to say yes. Right to, you know, because you you have all these options to go to. You have a limited budget of what can you spend your money on to take the team or to, you know, what conferences you're gonna go to. Um, that was a not to be missed. And it wasn't just Salesforce, which was awesome, but it was all that you could do.

Speaker 6 46:20

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 46:20

And the way you could, and we had we were in hotels like right above where it was happening. And I think an amazing visit.

Anna Marie Presutti 46:27

Uh San Francisco is sort of in the business of yes, you know, yes and and not in a in the business of no but.

Rick Gibson 46:38

Yeah, yeah. I think that's great.

Listening More Than You Speak

Rick Gibson 46:41

Well, I want to uh as a kind of wrap up here, I'd like to put you back on that plane.

Anna Marie Presutti 46:45

Yeah.

Rick Gibson 46:45

Um, with the leadership of Disney. Yeah. Some of them are no longer with us, right? Yeah. We lost Frank Wells. Yeah, yeah. Um but you know, there were those nuggets, those either either the way you were treated or something that was said, what would you say are is one or two leadership principles today that probably root to ideas, conversations, things you learned from a plane trip like that?

Anna Marie Presutti 47:15

You know, uh one one thing, and it stuck with me forever, is this it's a it's a great saying. I don't know if I heard it on the plane, but I certainly saw it demonstrated, and that was you have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth, use them in that proportion.

Speaker 6 47:31

Oh, yeah.

Anna Marie Presutti 47:33

And I I think leaders, really effective leaders, do a lot of observing and listening. And then you do a lot of speaking and you know, collaborating and things of that nature. But I think everyone thinks just because you're the leader, that you're the person who talks the most. And ironically, you are the person who should be listening the most. And if you're effective, you do. Um I think the other thing I learned and from a sales, I I came up in this business through the sales side of the business. And I remember once being on the phone with a customer and really talking through this program and selling this program of selling against another big branded hotel. And my director of sales at the time, she walked in and do you remember the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine with the tongue? Yes, oh yeah, right. Yeah. So she had sticky notes that had that picture on it. Yeah. And she took the sticky note and she put it in front of me when I was on the phone, and she wrote, bite your, and then she pointed. Wow. And that was like because I didn't need to sell, I was like overselling it. And sometimes, you know, as a salesperson, you just you just puke everything out, you know. And instead of just maybe asking a couple of really good qualifying questions and then answering the questions that need to be answered versus you know talking about stuff that's irrelevant, frankly. So um, those were the two key things that I've taken away. Bite your tongue, and then obviously the use use it in proportion.

Rick Gibson 49:27

Yeah, I love that. No, I I am not a salesperson, even though, in one way or another, if Daniel Pink is right, we're all selling something.

Anna Marie Presutti 49:36

Yes, that's a hundred percent true.

Rick Gibson 49:39

Yeah, that's a great book, by the way. It's uh to sell is human, yeah. Daniel Pink. Um, but um yeah, I am not that naturally, but I've been involved in things where I've had to make a pitch and try to get somebody to respond the way I want them to. And I remember one time getting similar advice, not as good as the little sticker and bite your phone. But I had a sales guy tell me as I was I had already got an agreement, and I kept talking.

Anna Marie Presutti 50:07

You just kept selling, yeah.

Rick Gibson 50:08

And he said on the drive home, don't buy back the vacuum cleaner. You know, you've already sold it, don't buy it back, you know. And and that's really wise, you know, it's like, okay, know when to speak, know when to listen, know when to engage. Yeah, yeah. Um I I I don't I don't want to paint too broad a brush here, but I do think a lot of the corner offices, the CEOs, I mean, they have to be good at that to get the job in the first place, right? To step in front of a board to get hired or bosses or whatever. But somewhere underneath there, there's got to be another kind of person that is not just simply presenting themselves, but is representing an idea or a team. Uh a vision. And a vision, yeah. Um how you have a you have a team of people who work for you? I do, yeah. Not just in San Francisco, but all over.

Anna Marie Presutti 51:00

Yeah, so DC, New York, Chicago.

Rick Gibson 51:02

Yeah.

Anna Marie Presutti 51:03

Mm-hmm.

Rick Gibson 51:03

Yeah.

Clear Leadership And Women Rising

Anna Marie Presutti 51:04

Remote.

Rick Gibson 51:04

If you if I were to ask one of them what they thought your leadership style was, what do you think they would say?

Anna Marie Presutti 51:10

Oh, uh I think they would say that very very commonly you would hear them say, She says what she means and she means what she says. It is very rare somebody will walk out of a meeting with me and go, God, I wonder what that was all about, or I wonder what she meant.

Rick Gibson 51:27

Like there's No ambiguity.

Anna Marie Presutti 51:29

No, no. And you always know where you stand with me. Um I I also think they would say that um I am really tough but incredibly fair. Um but I have a friend who says, if you want fair, buy a dog, name it fair. That's fair. So I always laugh. I always hesitate to say the word fair because I always think of him saying that. But yes, very, very fair and practical. Yeah. Um and and not afraid. I'm definitely not afraid. Yeah. Because I always look at it, you're not gonna break anything. We're not gonna break anything. There's so many systems and things in place that it's not gonna break. You know, like I would leave the hotel for vacation and I'm like, it'll be fine. There nobody's gonna break anything. You know, decisions you might you might make the mistake and be make the wrong decision, but you can pivot out of it. You know, that's part of the process. And I think there was this time where everyone was so afraid to make a decision because they were afraid it was gonna be wrong. I just I am not fearful of making the wrong decision because if it is wrong, then all right, we'll learn from that and we we we just change, we just move differently, we behave differently, we implement something differently. It's not it's not the end of the world to make a mistake. In fact, it's probably good that you do.

Rick Gibson 53:00

Right. Pivot, move on, own it, pivot. Own it, just go.

Anna Marie Presutti 53:04

It's not a big deal.

Rick Gibson 53:05

Yeah, right.

Anna Marie Presutti 53:06

Happens all the time.

Rick Gibson 53:07

I'm wondering, uh, we we mentioned earlier that uh you're the first female to be in the position you're in right now. Uh to those who listen to our podcast or who are watching the podcast who are emerging leaders, female leaders, um what would you say about the challenges that are still in place there? Uh I don't want to lead, there may not be any, but I assume there are. Um but what does that mean and and what advice do you give to some of the young women who are emerging in whatever field they're in?

Anna Marie Presutti 53:41

Well, I don't think being a female leader in anymore is unique. Now, when I first started, it was incredibly unique. Um, but now you know I just came from this meeting and I look at Orlando, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Nashville, San Francisco, all female CEOs. Now there was probably a time when there was, you know, one or two of those folks in the room, and um it it's it's not uncommon anymore. I remember being one of the very I well, I was the first and only female executive with Nika Hotels International. It was a Japanese-based company, a Japanese um it was it was based in Japan. It was um founded in Japan, you know. I was until the day I left, I was still the only senior female.

Rick Gibson 54:50

So some cultural things that played in the U.S.

Anna Marie Presutti 54:52

Yeah, it was kind of funky, you know, but I mean I found it easier, honestly, because you know, they didn't really know what to do with the female. You know, that was a cultural thing. So I was like, that's to my advantage, you know. Good for you. But I think now it's just you know, thank God we've gotten to the place that we are. I think, you know, it's not unusual to see female leadership in I think the one area that you you don't see as much of it is in that tech space. Um but certainly, you know, in a lot of other industries, it is not unusual to see female leadership.

Rick Gibson 55:33

Yeah. So it's a good time for aspiring female leaders to say, I want to, I want I see a spot for me and I want to aim for that.

Anna Marie Presutti 55:40

It's that and it's just um again, it you got I kind of go back to the you know, keep your head down, do what you're doing well, and you're you're gonna be fine. Uh someone will notice. And I and I I I lived by that, you know, and someone did notice. And it happened to be a Japanese man, you know. So he I I always say, I I'm here because a man who was in charge of the division at the time said she's the right person, you know. So, you know, you think about that, that was a huge leap. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that room.

Rick Gibson 56:19

In that conversation, right?

Anna Marie Presutti 56:20

Can you imagine? We want a loudmouth, blonde, Italian female to lead the organization.

Rick Gibson 56:28

So here I am. Yeah. Well, uh, it's been delightful visiting with you, and I I appreciate uh you letting us have kind of a broad conversation work and about your leadership journey. Uh, I know our listeners will will will enjoy that. Um one thing that stands out through this conversation is your belief that great cities um do not simply recover, they reinvent themselves. You've told us great stories about go for it as a leader, try to make it work. Just don't be bashful. If you make a mistake, move on. Uh you have brought with you some of your Midwestern values in arguably one of the most uh amazing, progressive uh cutting-edge cities that there is. Um we know that through your leadership at San Francisco is uh is writing a new chapter built on innovation, uh culture, hospitality, and global opportunity. You've got big things ahead in San Francisco. It has been a delight that you have uh joined us today, and I appreciate that. And I want to thank our viewers and our listeners for joining this episode of California Leaders.

Final Thoughts And Subscriber Ask]

Narrator 1 57:36

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the California Leaders Podcast, hosted by Christopher Luna. We hope you find our conversation as inspiring as we did. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us bring more of the content you love. And be sure to follow us on social media for updates, behind the scene content, and to join the conversation. Until next time, keep leading, keep innovating, and keep making a difference.