42.9 million people visited Philly region in 2023 — but tourism officials hope more are on the way

Tourism industry leaders and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker gathered Wednesday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to discuss how tourism impacted the Philadelphia region in 2023 and what they expect for the industry in 2024.

“Philadelphia benefits from a strong tourism economy,” Parker said. “Tourism attracts new residents, new businesses, and a new workforce to our area when people feel good about their Philadelphia experience.”

Although Philadelphians have always known “how awesome our city is,” Parker noted, others beyond the city have begun to notice, too. She mentioned recent accolades the city has garnered, including James Beard nominations announced in January, landing on Lonely Planet’s top destinations to visit in 2024 as the best U.S. city, and Philadelphia being ”one of the best performing cities” in a ranking focused on sustainable growth and resilience from Milken Institute, a nonprofit think tank.

Last year, Philadelphia’s tourism industry continued to recover from the impact of the pandemic, but it has not yet reached full recovery, according to data provided by Visit Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) from Tourism Economics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The five-county Philadelphia region welcomed 42.9 million visitors in 2023, a 6% increase from the prior year, but still 6% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Here are five takeaways of where Philadelphia’s tourism industry stands today and what the city can expect in the year to come.

“We could make our city the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all,” said Parker, touting a message that is the focus of her 100 first days in office.

Those priorities are aligned “with our own,” said Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the PHLCVB.

To achieve that vision, Parker noted the need for improved public safety, which she said was necessary for the survival of the hospitality and tourism industries. The city also needs to ensure infrastructure and public transit systems meet tourism needs.

While the supply of hotel rooms has increased since 2019, the demand has not yet matched 2019 levels in Philadelphia County. Last year, 4.25 million hotel night stays were sold in the area, a 9% increase from the previous year, but still 11% below demand in 2019, according to STR, which provides data on the hospitality industry.

Despite this, the amount of available hotel options for tourists continues to grow. Earlier this year, The Inquirer reported that new hotel openings will add 196 rooms to tourists’ options in Philadelphia in 2024.

To get visitors to spend more nights in Philadelphia, Visit Philadelphia is focusing on attracting tourists from farther away, said Angela Val, president and CEO of the tourism marketing agency for the region. Although her team focuses most of its marketing on the Northeast corridor, the agency will head to Atlanta later this year to try to attract additional visitors, she said.

Visit Philadelphia is also trying to ease travel planning by leveraging AI.

“We really are looking at how it could make the travel experience better,” Val said.

The organization is launching a web page later this year that will allow travelers to ask questions about Philadelphia and get AI-generated answers informed by the Visit Philadelphia website.

“Hopefully it’ll also take out the drudgery of planning travel. That will just become more efficient,” she said.

Over half a million people will visit Philadelphia for an event or meeting booked this year by the PHLCVB, Caren said.

Some of the visitors expected in 2024 in Philadelphia will be international. Those travelers will spend an estimated 1.3 million overnight stays in hotels and are anticipated to generate nearly $800 million in spending in the region. While PHLCVB promotes Philadelphia in 18 international markets, the top international visits come from Canada, the United Kingdom, India, China and Germany, Caren said.

Philadelphia International Airport welcomed over 28.1 million passengers last year — a 12.6% increase from the prior year but still 14.8% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the airport.

Philadelphia is benefiting from new domestic routes on Frontier and additional routes on American Airlines to Nice, Copenhagen, and Naples this year, said Caren.

Visit Philadelphia focused on diverse markets last year and is continuing to do so this year, Val said. The organization has led programming around Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Black History Month, including with Drag Queen Storytime and offering banned books in libraries.

“There are more places throughout this country that aren’t as welcoming to everyone,” Val said.

This focus could benefit both residents and visitors, she said.

“Philadelphia … has an opportunity to not just be welcoming, and inclusive, but to make sure that people have a true sense of belonging here,” Val said. “We think that that’s going to set us apart, sadly, from other cities.”