Author: Alfredo Casuso

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc/David Perry 
(415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

SF Hotel Council 17th Annual Hotel Hero Awards “Celebrate the Arts”
Thursday, March 19 (6pm-8:30pm)
Hilton San Francisco Union Square

“Hotel Industry Celebrates its Heroes!”

6 March 2020 — San Francisco, CA: Every day, thousands of artful professionals put a face on San Francisco’s number one industry: hospitality. They welcome San Francisco’s visitors with a smile and do all that is needed to make guests feel at ease – from preparing delicious breakfasts, to arranging your daily itineraries and ensuring that you have a pristine space to return to at the end of your day. They are the hotel employees of the “City that knows how.” On Thursday, March 19, the Hotel Council of San Francisco (www.hotelcouncil.org) gives special recognition to these frontline ambassadors at the 17th Annual Hotel Heroes Awards. With a special welcome offered by Mayor London N. Breed, this year’s gala— “Celebrate the Arts” — will run 6pm to 8:30pm at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square (333 O’Farrell Street).

“The Hotel Council is the voice of San Francisco’s hotel industry and our members are our hearts and hands,” said Kevin Carroll, Hotel Council President and CEO. “Creating joyful memories for our visitors is an art, and each of our honorees and all our members are hospitality artists.”

Established in 2003, the Hotel Hero awards were created to pay tribute to the people who dedicate their lives to the hospitality industry. As the largest industry in San Francisco, hotels and tourism directly impact the success of many businesses throughout San Francisco, supporting over 105,000 jobs.

“No matter how early the morning or challenging the job, our hospitality professionals are our ambassadors to the world,” said San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed. “They are out every day promoting our city, supporting our economy, and ensuring that San Francisco continues to be a world-class tourist destination.”

Calling the Hotel Council’s membership “the driver of San Francisco’s economic engine”, Carroll stressed the longtime partnership between the arts and hospitality in the City. San Francisco’s Hotel Tax Fund whereby a portion of the transient occupancy tax (TOT) helps fund San Francisco’s vibrant arts community.

“San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts is a national leader in how businesses can support the arts and vice versa,” said Carroll. “With a world class ballet, opera and symphony, internationally-known museums, theatres, galleries and writers, San Francisco understands that not only do the arts feed our soul, they feed our economy.”

Presenting sponsor for this year’s event is Clearway Energy. Award sponsors are the Bay Club, Big Bus, Recology, Swinnerton Builders, San Francisco Travel and Tito’s Vodka. The reception sponsor is Cintas. The program sponsor is Pure Luxury Transportation. The evening’s entertainment is sponsored by the Golden State Warriors.

Prices for the 17th Annual Hotel Heroes Gala are: Table of 10: $2,000. Individual Member Ticket, $275; Individual Non-Member Ticket, $325: available at www.hotelcouncilsf.org

About the Hotel Council of San Francisco: 
The Hotel Council of San Francisco is a non-profit membership-based organization advocating for the economic and social vitality of the hospitality industry in San Francisco. Their membership roster includes over 200 hotels, allied members, and partner organizations. The Hotel Council is dedicated to protecting the San Francisco hospitality industry and connecting its members to support the growth and success of the industry.

Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

17th Annual International Ocean Film Festival Postponed
Out of “Abundance of caution” in light of COVID-19

Event Originally Scheduled March 12 – 15 in San Francisco

4 March 2020 – San Francisco, CA: The International Ocean Film Festival (www.intloceanfilmfest.org), often called “The Sundance of Ocean Films” and host of the largest gathering of its type in the world, has announced a postponement of this year’s 17th annual event, originally slated for March 12 – 15 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre and other venues throughout the Bay Area.

“Out of an abundance of caution, and in light of the still developing situation with COVID-19, we have decided to postpone this year’s festival until all travel restrictions for visiting filmmakers have been lifted, and most importantly, out of respect for our audiences,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the Festival. 

Large public gatherings can accelerate the spread of infectious diseases, and San Francisco has already declared a state of emergency because of the spread of COVID-19.  In light of an unknown, but growing number of cases in Northern California, the International Ocean Film Festival board made the difficult decision to postpone the organization’s cornerstone event.

“With more than 5000 people expected to attend, we know this is the proper response so that when we do reschedule the festival will be a joyful and relaxing experience, and not pose any additional risks or inconvenience to our audience and partners,” said Blanco.

Over the next few weeks, working in concert with filmmakers and venues, the International Ocean Film Festival will announce a new series of dates, likely for mid- to late summer.

For 17 years, San Francisco’s International Ocean Film Festival has been pursuing its ocean conservation mission through film: Saving Our Oceans –  One Film at a Time. This year’s Festival selection comprised 56 films from 15 countries including four world premieres, six United States premieres, nine West Coast premieres and six Bay Area Premieres.

“This is easily the most diverse group of films we’ve ever had, with the greatest international participation to date,” said Blanco.

For the 2020 Festival, 160 submissions were received from around the world, including films from the USA, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Turkey, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, South Korea, Madagascar and South Africa. The list includes films of all genres – documentaries, narratives, shorts, and animation films of all lengths. As always, the Festival focuses on all ocean centric themes including but not limited to: ocean exploration, wildlife, environmental, conservation, oceanography, seafaring adventures, maritime issues, ocean sports and coastal cultures.

In order to fulfill its conservation mission, and in addition to screening films, the International Ocean Film Festival has aligned itself with the Ocean Unite’s #Love30x30 initiative to bring more awareness to this global effort. #Love30x30 is a call to action to safeguard at least 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030 through a network of highly protected marine areas where no destructive or extractive activities like fishing or mining can take place.

Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental activists. Since then, the Festival has presented over 600 films from 50 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.

Current sponsors for the 17th Annual International Ocean Film Festival include National Marine Sanctuary, BigBus of San Francisco, Gray Line Tours, SSA, Alcatraz Cruises, the Port of San Francisco, the Consul General of Canada, Blue and Gold Ferry, RBC Wealth Management, Heidrick & Struggles and Pacific Gas & Electric.

The International Ocean Film Festival encourages its patrons, supporters and partners to follow the most current advice from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization for preventing the further spread of the COVID-19 in Northern California and beyond, and to stay tuned for announcements about International Ocean Film Festival events once the threat level is reduced.

2 March 2020 — 1pmPacific

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 / Coronavirus, we wanted to update everyone with the most current information, and let you know that we are in constant touch and coordination with the San Francisco Mayor’s Office and all health officials about the latest developments.

As we reported at the end of last week, there are no cases of COVID-19 / Coronavirus that have originated in San Francisco, and all hotels and businesses are open for business and ready to receive visitors. 

As always, the health and safety of our members and guests is our foremost concern and will continue to update our membership, and the public, as the situation warrants.

— Kevin Carroll, SF Hotel Council President & CEO

“Milan loves you! Now, show that you love Milan!”

There are no risks attending IGLTA Convention in Italy in May: 

Everything is ready and the Italian travel industry is pushing back against negative and inaccurate media coverage related to COVID-19. 

“Italy is being more transparent, and doing more testing than any other European country. We are more safe than before, not less.”
— Alessio Virgili, President of the IGLTA Host Committee

28 February 2020 – Milan, Italy: Lately, the image of Italy abroad has been distorted by a series of proactive decisions made by the Italian Government to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These governmental actions, designed to stop the spread of the virus, have – unfortunately – led to a perception that Italy is “less safe” than other countries. In fact, the opposite is true.

In light of this, Alessio Virgili, International Gay and Lesbian Tourist Association (IGLTA) Ambassador, CEO of the Sonders & Beach Group and President of the host committee for 37th IGLTA Global Convention, confirms that the Convention will take place on May 6-9 , 2020 in Milan.

“The Italian Health Ministry did more than 9,000 tests and 95% of these were negative,” said Virgili.  “The tests found that only 5% of test patients were infected and only 20% of these showed symptoms of illness.  Out of an abundance of caution, the Italian health authorities also tested people who were not showing symptoms.  France, for example, did only 475 tests. Other countries did not state the number of tests done. For this reason, there is an inaccurate perception that Italy has a greater COVID-19 outbreak than other countries. In fact, Italy is the victim of its own transparency. Italy is not less safe. Rather, Italy has been more scrupulous and more transparent in its efforts to fight the virus. The media has mis-represented,and over-dramatized the situation. COVID-19 is under control in Italy.”

Looking forward, Virgili stresses that plans are continuing for the May IGLTA Convention in Milan, including a party on March 4^th in Milan to preview the May event. The party is hosted by ENIT, the Italian Tourist Board and Sonders & Beach.  Preparation for the event in May has been ongoing for several years including a new destination management plan for inbound LGBTQ+ tourism, the first for Italy. 

“Our theme for the IGLTA conference in May is Milan Loves You’,” said Virgilli.  “Now, we are looking forward to the world returning that affection. COVID-19 is a serious issue and one which we are monitoring carefully.  Italy is as safe as any country during these stressful times, perhaps safer. But, as always, Italians invite drama: it’s one of our distinctive characteristics. However, don’t let drama get in the way of facts. Come to Italy and come to the IGLTA conference in May.” 

Letizia Strambi 

Head of PR and Media  

Sonders & Beach Group

0039 3339579055 

info@letiziastrambi.com press@sondersandbeach.com