PHILADELPHIA…February 2, 2015… The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), the primary sales and marketing agency for the Pennsylvania Convention Center, today announced that it has posted its strongest convention booking year in over a decade. Strong booking performance in the second half of 2014 indicates that changes to work rules and customer rights at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC), which were implemented in May 2014, are helping to attract conventions back to the city. By leveraging positive customer experiences at the Center following the signing of a customer satisfaction agreement by four labor unions, the PHLCVB achieved 91 percent of its 2014 booking goal or 846,357 room nights, with 79 percent of that business slated to take place at the Convention Center and the rest at regional hotels.

“We are beyond pleased at what we have accomplished in 2014,” said Jack Ferguson, PHLCVB President & CEO. “These unprecedented numbers would not have been attainable without the transformation that has taken place at the Convention Center under SMG's management, the leadership of Greg Fox and Josh Shapiro, chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the PCCA, as well as John McNichol, PCC president & CEO and the four signatory unions at the building.The work of the PHLCVB and PCC teams in communicating those changes to clients should also be noted, as meeting planners who had never considered Philadelphia are now coming to the table and taking us into serious consideration as a host city.”

Since the signing of the customer satisfaction agreement at the Center in May, definite bookings of large conventions – known as 'citywides' – for future years are 47 percent higher than over the same period in fiscal year 2013. In total, more than $870 million in new business for future years has been booked into the Pennsylvania Convention Center by the PHLCVB since May 2014 including the American College of Emergency Physicians ($29.6 million in economic impact), the American Heart Association ($67 million in economic impact), the American Association for Cancer Research ($41 million in economic impact), the National Association of Black MBA's ($19.5 million in economic impact), the American Industrial Hygiene Association ($16.2 million in economic impact) and the National Business Media tradeshow ($3.8 million). Six groups signed multi-year agreements to host their conventions in Philadelphia.

"It has been a great team effort," said John McNichol, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. "Jack Ferguson, Julie Coker and their team at PHLCVB have done a great job of selling the benefits of our new work rules, expanded exhibitor rights, and cooperative partnership with show floor labor to our customers.  With SMG as our building manager and a united team on the show floor committed to hospitality, we are able to deliver our customers and exhibitors the best possible experience."

The convention and group market segment is the strongest driver of hotel demand and room revenue, capturing 34 percent of all occupancy and contributing toward a record 75.5 percent occupancy in 2014, according to PKF Consulting. The PHLCVB's strong booking year positions Center City hotels for even greater occupancy in future years.

“We are extremely pleased with the record occupancy among Center City hotels in 2014 and the PHLCVB's hard work last year will go a long way to ensuring that we are able to have even more years like these in the future,” said Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association (GPHA) president Greg Stafford.

Looking ahead to 2015, the PHLCVB currently has 37 meetings and conventions booked for the calendar year January 1-December 31 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Those meetings and conventions will consume 314,086 total room nights generating more than $550 million in economic impact for Philadelphia. On the books for 2015 are several major PHLCVB-booked events, including East Coast Volleyball, March 29-31 ($24 million economic impact); the American Association of Cancer Research, April 18 -22 ($44 million economic impact); the BIO International Convention, June 15 - 18 ($43 million economic impact; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, July 11 – 17 ($11 million economic impact) and the International Society for Technology in Education, October 19-23 ($39 million economic impact). In addition to meetings already on the books, the sales staff of the PHLCVB will continue to book short-term meetings throughout the year.

The PHLCVB and PCC sales teams will be attending 29 tradeshows and hosting 14 client events this year to continue promotion of Philadelphia as a meeting destination to meeting planners, exhibitors and show contractors.

Here is a look at some of the larger PHLCVB-booked meetings and conventions at the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center and area hotels for 2015.

Khaila Edward (PHLCVB)
215/636-3412
khaila@discoverphl.com 

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Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), www.discoverPHL.com, a private non-profit membership corporation, is the official Tourism Promotion Agency for the City of Philadelphia globally, and the primary sales and marketing agency for the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center. The PCVB competes with its counterparts worldwide for convention and tourism business. The organization has departments dedicated to the multicultural, sports, and life sciences markets.

The PHLCVB incorporates the short code PHL, an open source graphic identifier for the City of Philadelphia into the Convention & Visitors Bureau brand identity. The graphic identifier and other assets for use by public, private and non-profit organizations can be found at www.PHLpartners.com. To request a login, email phlpartners@discoverphl.com