If you see big crowds near the Moscone Center over the next few days, that’s because San Francisco is hosting the International Pow Wow conference, one of the premier events and trade shows for the travel industry.

The conference will feature close to 1,100 booths from more than 70 countries, as the city looks to sell its biggest moneymaker- the tourism industry.

At last year’s event in Orlando, over 70,000 business appointments were conducted, resulting in over $3.5 billion of business for the city.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, “travel and tourism employs more people than any other San Francisco industry and generates about $8 billion and $500,000 in tax revenues each year.”

“The return of this conference is not only significant for this week, but for the next three to five years, (as) they’re going to be selling San Francisco for us,” Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association told the Examiner.

The event last came to San Francisco in 1992.

According to the San Francisco Travel Association, 15.92 million people visited San Francisco in 2010.

Click here for more.

• Tag: International Pow Wow, Moscone Center, Tourism, travel