Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) will be showcasing its recently launched joint attraction campaign PHL: Here For The Making to the international travel community at IPW 2014, the travel industry's premier international marketplace and the largest generator of travel to the United States. The tradeshow, which takes place in Chicago this year, runs from April 5 – 9 and draws close to 1,200 international and domestic travel buyers from over 70 countries, resulting in the generation of more than $4.7 billion in future visits to the U.S.

“IPW 2014 is critical to expanding Philadelphia's share of the global travel market as it provides access to key travel buyers,” said Jack Ferguson, PHLCVB President & CEO. “Philadelphia welcomed more than 595,000 international visitors in 2012 and with the launch of the PHL: Here for the Making campaign we are actively working to increase that number.”

Since 2001, the PHLCVB has successfully marketed and sold Philadelphia to potential international travelers, resulting in moving the city from the 21st to the 12th most visited American city. While at IPW 2014, the PHLCVB's global tourism team will engage in more than 100 pre-scheduled, one-on-one appointments with tour operators and travel buyers. The group will be joined by partners including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia International Airport. The on-site Philadelphia presence will also include a PHL - branded destination booth complete with messaging in line with the campaign, which promotes Philadelphia as a city where anything can be made including a great American experience.

Tradeshow marketing, such as IPW 2014, is a key component of the City's strategy for attracting international travelers. In 2013, Mayor Michael A. Nutter accompanied the PHLCVB's tourism team to London for World Travel Market, another leading tradeshow which drew more than 47,000 travel professionals along with trade and consumer press from across the globe.

Reaching travel consumers directly via news media is also important to building Philadelphia's image overseas and increasing international visitation to Philadelphia. The PHLCVB works with international media throughout the year to generate editorial coverage for the City, welcoming more than 72 journalists in 2013, resulting in hundreds of editorial stories last year. That media outreach will continue this year at IPW 2014 during the Media Marketplace, where Philadelphia representatives will have the opportunity to promote the City's attributes to more than 500 travel journalists from around the globe.  

For more information on the global tourism marketing campaign – PHL: Here for the Making, visit www.discoverPHL.com/makeitPHL.

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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 PHLCVB 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