To mark National Travel and Tourism Week, Philadelphia's hospitality industry assembled its ranks at Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to put a face on an industry that generates $10 billion a year in economic impact in Greater Philadelphia and employs 90,000 people. The historical backdrop will be a central image during the Democratic National Convention this July, an event which will galvanize the region's hospitality industry and put Philadelphia in the worldwide spotlight. In the crowd of 200 were hotel employees, museum workers, National Park Rangers, small-business owners, sales and marketing professionals, the Phillie Phanatic, Mummers, Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin and Rocky re-enactors, along with the following leaders: Mayor Jim Kenney, City of Philadelphia; Julie Coker Graham, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB); Meryl Levitz, VISIT PHILADELPHIA™; John J. McNichol, Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority; Cynthia MacLeod, Independence National Historical Park; Jim Cuorato, Independence Visitor Center Corporation; Sheila Hess, City of Philadelphia; Carrie Fischer Lepore, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development; and Greg Stafford, Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association.

Credit: Photo by R. Kennedy for VISIT PHILADELPHIA® and Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau