February 22, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Philadelphia tourism leaders presented statistics from 2023 and preview of 2024 at a conference Wednesday. While visitation numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019, they improved year over year.
Millions of tourists visited Philadelphia last year, boosting demand for hotels and generating an economic impact of $6.6 billion. While the numbers were an improvement over 2022, the city is still struggling to claw back its pre-pandemic tourism revenue four years after the onset of COVID-19.
Philadelphia hosted 25.8 million tourists in 2023, marking a 7% bump over 2022. Visitors spent 10% more than they did the previous year, and hotel occupancy increased by 7%. Hospitality-related jobs also shot up to 77,200, a 10% year-over-year improvement. And state and local governments took in 15% more in tax revenue for a total of $387 million.
The picture is even rosier when Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are factored in. Total visitation across the greater Philadelphia region was 42.9 million and the economic impact $12.4 billion. But nearly all these numbers are still lower than the statistics from 2019, when the region reported a record-breaking 10th year of consecutive growth.
"Travel demand is still very, very good, but we do still have a little bit of work to do," Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, said at a tourism conference Wednesday. "There is room for improvement."
Val's team has a multi-pronged strategy to get there. Part of it involves improving the travel-planning experience with artificial intelligence. By the end of the year, Visit Philadelphia plans to launch a beta AI site that will answer visitor questions about attractions and accommodations. The agency also aims to recruit new visitors by marketing farther down the East Coast. Campaigns will begin in Atlanta, the city's first "fly market" since the pandemic, later this year.
"It is our job to bring leisure and domestic travelers to Philly, but it's also our job to extend the number of nights they stay," Val said. "And the only way to do that is to enter into fly markets."
Tourism leaders are pinning many hopes on upcoming marquee events, like WrestleMania XL. The city expects 200,000 people to visit Philadelphia for the WWE tournament, to be held at Lincoln Financial Field in April. In its first day of sales, the event sold more than 90,000 tickets, an all-time gate record.
"The beauty of that event is it's a family affair," said Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau. "You've got grandparents, parents, kids that are here for 4-5 nights and leaving with less money than they came with."
The expectations for 2026 are even higher. That year, Philadelphia will host six World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game and first round games in the NCAA basketball tournament. It is also America's 250th birthday, and as the nation's first capital, Philly expects to draw many semiquincentennial visitors. If that weren't enough, the 50th anniversary of "Rocky" falls on Nov. 21, 2026. The Philadelphia Museum of Art's famed "Rocky steps" and accompanying statue are the second-most visited attraction Philadelphia, beaten only by the Liberty Bell.
Tourism chiefs will continue to lean heavily on Philadelphia's growing reputation as a foodie destination, bolstered by its recent spate of James Beard Awards and national magazine accolades, and its recent inclusion on Lonely Planet's top 10 best cities to visit in 2024. They already have an enthusiastic cheerleader in the city's newest mayor, who made a rallying cry Wednesday.
"Philadelphians, and I've learned this over the past two years, have always known just how awesome our city is," Parker said. "And now we are noticing that others are taking notice, too.
"When we think about the company that's coming, if you're not excited about it, come see me and we will have a therapy session."
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