This year, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) has 19 "citywide" events on the books — gatherings that generate 2,000 or more hotel room stays on its peak night — matching the number of citywides held in 2019 before the pandemic.
The marquee events include the NCAA Division I men's basketball east regional in late March at the Wells Fargo Center, which is expected to fill more than 8,000 hotel rooms. The return of the Army-Navy football game this winter, projected to attract 50,000 visitors, will "really help our December and help us finish the year out strong," said Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association.
Still, the 498,000 hotel nights from all 152 events booked by PHLCVB will be down about 50% from one million room nights in 2019.
