Up close and personal S.F. tour guide shows off city via compact convertible
SAN FRANCISCO -- Tourism in San Francisco is slowly recovering after taking a major hit during the COVID pandemic.
For some, the bounce-back remains slow but, for one man who zips through the city's streets, it's all happening at the right time.
"What's not to love about this job?" Reed Kirk Rahlmann told KPIX. "You look up and you see the city. You see the city!"
Rahlmann may lead the smallest human-guided tour of San Francisco but he's one of the city's biggest champions.
"We are the place where you make your dreams come true. We're the place where we're tolerant. You know you can be whatever you want," he explained as he drove around the city in his green convertible Mini Cooper. "So long as you are a kind person everybody's welcome."
Leading the fully-customizable tours is a fitting match for Rahlmann, a Bay Area native whose passion is showing off the city by the bay.
"Every time my parents would bring me and my brother into the city to, you know, either just visit or see family, I always thought this is my city. This is where I belong," Rahlmann said.
With just three people maximum per tour, Rahlmann says that is all he needs to spread the word that the city is back and better than ever.
"People say 'Well, what happens if more than four people want to take your tour? I say I won't take 'em," he said.
All you need to be convinced that San Francisco is not in a doom loop, he says, is to look around.
"That's B.S.," Rahlmann said of the doom loop narrative. He said that guests often tell him "'Oh, my friends and family told me [San Francisco is] dangerous and it's scary and awful.' And we go out and, within an hour, they're captivated. It's wonderful and I say 'Yeah! go back and share that!' Their exposure to the city makes that narrative go away."
While he's not naive about the city's shortcomings, he says its history and spirit is more powerful than negative headlines.
"You know how exciting the city was? We couldn't get to Fisherman's Wharf because it was crowded. Why is it crowded? Because everyone in the Bay Area wanted to come here at Christmastime with their families," Rahlmann said. "If the city wasn't the city I'd just be yapping out of my hat."
When asked about his favorite part of the city, Rahlmann wouldn't choose.
"It's like asking who's your favorite kid. It depends on the mood I'm in," he explained.
Through Rahlmann's eyes, San Francisco doesn't have a bad side -- a view he's spreading one ride at a time.
"Getting ready today I said I'm going to drive around the city and show them the sights and that's going to be my job," he said. "That's a pretty good way to earn a living."