USA - The expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center has brought five major exhibitions to the city since opening on 4 March.
According to Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau head Jack Ferguson, the bureau has secured $2.7bn in future bookings related to the expansion. "It's a critical component," he commented, "and we would not be where we are today without it."
One of the world’s largest architectural and commercial lighting tradeshows, Lightfair International, takes place later this month and is expected to bring 23,000 attendees. The event uses more than 10,900 hotel bed nights and brings an economic impact of more than $19m.
The city also has two new hotels, the Palomar and Le Méridien, boosting the city’s total room capacity to 12,500.
Philadelphia deputy mayor Alan Greenberger welcomed the Convention Center’s contribution to creating jobs when he visited the venue last week. The hospitality industry, he said, was important in building the city’s job base. Philadelphia’s hospitality sector employs more than 50,000 and the tourism chiefs believe it could be the replacement industry for lost manufacturing jobs.
Greenberger was speaking on a panel of tourism chiefs in front of an audience of 200 who had been invited to tour the new meeting spaces opened at the Center as part of the US$786m expansion, which doubled the event space.
Ahmeenah Young, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, said the expansion "transformed us from a large urban center to a hospitality center".
Any news? Contact EW at exhibitionworld@mashmedia.co.uk
