Despite San Francisco’s dirty streets, tourism set a record last year and is expected to continue growing.

The number of visitors to the city rose 1.2 percent to 25.8 million, and spending rose 2.3 percent to $10 billion, according to data released Thursday by San Francisco’s tourism bureau.

With the full reopening in January of Moscone Center, the major convention space in the South of Market district, San Francisco could draw even more visitors — 26.5 million — in 2019, San Francisco Travel projects.

“I think this year will also be a great year for us,” said Kevin Carroll, CEO of the Hotel Council, which represents hotel operators. Carroll said his members have seen a strong start to 2019, thanks partly to the expanded Moscone Center and improvements on the streets around it.

San Francisco International Airport had a record-high 57.8 million passengers in 2018, up 3.1 percent from the previous year.

International visitors spent $4.9 billion. Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany accounted for the most tourists from abroad. The countries with the fastest visitor growth were Brazil, France, India and Taiwan.

A major challenge remains San Francisco’s street problems. Pervasive open-air drug use and homelessness, along with needles and human feces on the streets, have alarmed visitors and led to a partial cancellation of a 15,000-person annual medical convention.

“The brand of San Francisco is threatened if we can’t make sure the street experience is more positive,” said Joe D’Alessandro, CEO of San Francisco Travel. “That’s a real priority of ours.”

Rod Newman, who was visiting San Francisco from the United Kingdom, said he saw “quite a lot of people” sleeping in doorways or living on the street. But Newman, who was waiting in line Thursday to ride the Powell Street cable car and had also enjoyed a boat cruise and a visit to the Exploratorium, wasn’t bothered by it.

“You see this in all cities around the world these days,” he said.

Average hotel occupancy was 82.2 percent in 2018, down 1.4 percent, a drop attributed to the partial closure of Moscone Center. The average daily hotel room rate was $264.53, up 6.2 percent.

A two-month strike at seven San Francisco Marriott hotels that ended in December and smoky air in November from the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County also kept some visitors away, D’Alessandro said.

The tourism industry generated $771 million in taxes and fees for the city in 2018 — more than 7 percent of the city’s $11 billion budget — and up 8 percent from the previous year.

Tourism supported 82,538 local jobs, up 1 percent from the previous year. Total visitor spending is expected to rise to $10.3 billion this year, up 3.4 percent.

According to a survey of visitors released last year, the city’s most popular attractions were Pier 39, the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The most-visited neighborhoods were Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown.

In 2019, hotel occupancy is expected to rise 1.2 percent to 83.2 percent, and the average daily room rate is expected to increase 4.6 percent to $276.66.

Three new San Francisco hotels have opened this year, adding more than 600 rooms: Yotel in Mid-Market, along with Virgin Hotel and Hyatt Place, both South of Market. But San Francisco’s new hotel supply still lags compared with development in other U.S. cities, D’Alessandro said.

Low supply and high costs are prompting some visitors to stay elsewhere in the Bay Area — but they’re still coming to San Francisco, he said.

“It is an extremely expensive city,” D’Alessandro said. “People are willing to pay more if they feel the value is there.”

San Francisco Travel has worked with Downtown Streets Team, a nonprofit, to clean up the area around Moscone Center. Convention participants this year have said there’s improvement, D’Alessandro said, but “we still have a long way to go.”

He also credits Mayor London Breed for focusing on homelessness and street challenges. The city’s 2018-19 budget included $3.1 million for 44 new street cleaners.

“I am committed to working every day to make our city a better place for everyone, whether they live here or are visiting from the other side of the world,” Breed said in a statement.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf