‘Come cool down’: can San Francisco’s cold summers be a draw for tourists?

San Francisco’s cool weather and famous fog have long drawn travelers coming from the state’s warm interior. Photograph: Look Die Bildagentur der Fotografen GmbH/Alamy

San Francisco’s famously chilly summers have long shocked visitors, made sweatshirts a year-round gift shop staple, and turned its fog into a social media star.

Now, as California and the US west face increasingly searing summer weather, the city’s tourism leaders want to turn San Francisco’s frigid reputation into an advantage.