Program areas at PHLCVB
Convention sales the phlcvb's Convention sales program is charged with helping to drive overnight visitation by booking and servicing meetings, conventions, trade shows and sporting events into the Pennsylvania Convention center, member hotels, and off-site venues. This activity is critical to the success of Philadelphia's tourism industry, as meetings and conventions are longer- term pieces of business which provide a strong foundation for Philadelphia's economy, and provides security for Philadelphia's hospitality-related jobs. The Convention sales function also includes three key verticals - phl diversity, phl life sciences, and phl sports; and data and analytical research that supports the Convention sales function. 2021 marked the start of recovery for Philadelphia hotels in the wake of covid-19, and while results remained under 2019 performance levels, all categories reflected steady increases over 2020. This includes a 40.8% hotel occupancy rate (up 9.7% from 2020), 182 average daily rate (up 16.2% from 2020), 74 revenue per available room (up 52.6% from 2020) and 362 million in total room revenue (up 99.4% from 2020). In 2021, the phlcvb secured 136 future events projected to bring an estimated 526,000 attendees that will generate approximately 302,534 total estimated room nights, 57% of which were Pennsylvania Convention center related. This brings the total confirmed and committed business on the books at the end of 2021 to 366 events, with 2.5 million estimated attendees and 2.9 million estimated room nights. Phl life sciences: "in 2021, the phlcvb leveraged 30+ years of life sciences experience to advise on the covid-19 pandemic. Division highlights include: oas the only Convention and Visitors Bureau in the country with a dedicated life sciences division, the phlcvb was able to leverage our region's medical experts to help the tourism industry navigate health and safety concerns caused by the global pandemic. Oin response to covid-19, the phlcvb aimed to ensure a safe return to travel and meetings by aligning expertise and guidance from key tourism and hospitality leaders while also tapping into the greater Philadelphia region's renowned medical and scientific community. In 2021, the phlcvb continued to leverage chief health advisor, dr. david nash, along with members of the 20-member subcommittee of the phl life sciences board, the phl health advisors, to advise on best practices for hosting safe events. In response to the program, meetings today recognized the phlcvb and dr. nash as a "2021 trendsetter- and with a "2021 excellence award." Okey phl life science events that were booked in 2021 include the 2025 national council for mental wellbeing (natcon) with 5,500 attendees and 13,752 room nights and the 2032 joint annual meeting of american society of transplant surgeons and american society of translations with 5,000 attendees and 13,000 room nights. Phl sports: "division highlights include: ophiladelphia soccer 2026 welcomed representatives from fifa and the u.s. soccer federation to Philadelphia for a site visit at lincoln financial field, which was vying for the opportunity to host matches during the 2026 fifa world cup. After being greeted by cheering fans in center city Philadelphia and at the stadium's entrance, the delegation toured the venue and joined presentations that showcased Philadelphia's large event pedigree and unrivaled passion for sports. Oin 2021, the Pennsylvania Convention center hosted the usa fencing national championships and north american cup - the largest fencing tournament in the world since the covid-19 pandemic. Oin 2021, phl sports booked 41 future sporting events with an estimated 388,000 attendees and 90,000 room nights. Phl diversity: "division highlights include: ophl diversity welcomed the ancient egyptian order nobles mystic shrine to the Pennsylvania Convention center for the 128th annual imperial council session, august 9-21, 2021, marking the first major Convention held at the venue since march 2020. Oin february of 2021, tourism diversity matters (tdm), a national diversity resource that educates, advocates, engages, and empowers tourism and events industry leaders to incorporate dei into their strategies and plans, launched with the phlcvb as a founding partner.
Global tourism the global tourism team in Philadelphia was supported by five in-country representation offices who have a presence in eight overseas markets. Throughout 2021, the phlcvb's global tourism and communications teams kept Philadelphia top of mind as a premier destination to attract overseas Visitors. Activations included in-person and virtual trade shows, webinars, and new products to promote and sell the destination in the five feeder markets. In november 2021, with the announcement of borders reopening to the united states, overseas leisure travel began to pick up - only to be halted by the omicron variant in december. The subsequent delay in overseas travel only served to increase travel interest in the united states moving into 2022. Overseas visitation to Philadelphia reached 138,000 visits in 2021 - a 3.1% increase over the prior year and recovering to 80.5% below 2019 levels. Because of this, visitor spending also shrunk considerably, totaling 96.9 million, down 83.9% relative to 2019. Tourism economics reported that in 2022, the Philadelphia region is expected to regain approximately half of its lost overseas visitation compared to 2019 level, with an estimated 778,000 room nights projected in 2022.
Marketing & communications the marketing and communications function supports sales and business development initiatives for the phlcvb and the Pennsylvania Convention center by promoting Philadelphia and the region through a comprehensive website and fully integrated marketing, advertising, public relations, social media and digital communication strategy. The phlcvb's efforts target meeting planners, influencers, Convention attendees, domestic group tour operators, overseas leisure travelers and travel trade professionals. These activities all help to support the efforts of the Convention sales and global tourism programs in driving overnight visitation to Philadelphia through creative messaging and storytelling. Key highlights include: "meet the moment" campaign: "in may 2021, the phlcvb launched the "meet the moment" campaign - a transitionary marketing campaign designed to encourage interest in booking meetings in the near term as face-to-face meetings returned. This regionally focused campaign promoted Philadelphia as an ideal location in the northeastern u.s. and included local and regional messaging to encourage organizations to keep their meetings in Philadelphia and aid in the city's economic recovery. "later in 2021, the phlcvb launched the meet Philadelphia (domestic) and discover Philadelphia (overseas) campaign that introduced a new look and feel emerging from the pandemic, with new targeted messaging and ad placements. Social media results: "2021 was a landmark year for the phlcvb on social media, with a new focus on short videos for instagram reels and tiktok. In total, short video content accumulated a combined 1.4 million views and over 111,000 engagements. "the channels increased fans and followers by 46,789. Total fans and followers across all owned accounts totaled 331,025 over 12 accounts in 9 countries. "the phlcvb increased its chinese social media footprint in 2021 by introducing the wechat mini program. The program serves as a mobile guide to the attractions, hotels, restaurants, and experiences of Philadelphia while also signaling Philadelphia's continued commitment to the china market. Discoverphl.com refresh and results: "the phlcvb continued to upgrade and invest in the destination website. In 2021, a new venue and meeting space search tool was developed for meeting planners. The tool helps drive additional sales leads and awareness for hotel partners. The page had 88,406 unique Visitors in 2021. "in 2021, the phlcvb website had 521,569 total unique visits (up 74% from 2020). "in 2021, the phlcvb team continued to develop content for the discover phl blog, with popular pages being the "free and budget friendly" page with 65,975 unique Visitors and "Philadelphia museums that are now open" blog with 63,358 unique Visitors.
Group tour sales-498,498 the phlcvb's group tour sales program helps grow overnight visitation by connecting with domestic group tour operators. The team worked to position Philadelphia as a top us destination for group leisure travel by delivering destination updates and group-specific content to key group travel planners and actively servicing incoming group tour leads. Membership-245,630 the phlcvb's membership program, renamed the partnership program, actively engages the local business community through networking events and educational seminars designed to connect local businesses with meeting planners and Convention business. Phlcvb members are local business owners across all neighborhoods throughout the city. "in 2021, the partnership team made improvements to the program included a simpler pricing model, streamlined application procedures, and new ways to engage with customers and network with each other. "the phlcvb had 559 total partners, with 27 new partners joining over the calendar year. "54% of those partners are discover phl partners (restaurants, bars, attractions, retail, sports and entertainment), 19% are host phl partners (venues, caterers, audio/visual production, floral and dcor, event production), 12% are stay phl partners (hotels and bed and breakfasts), and 10% are friends partners (corporate and non-profit supporters).