2017 Proved To Be A Banner Year For Philadelphia Tourism
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia had a banner year for tourism in 2017.
In a year in which the city welcomed six new hotels, and projections for the number of overnight visitors were down, Philadelphia hotels actually thrived.
Visit Philly President and CEO Meryl Levitz says Center City hotels set a record for occupancy for the fourth straight year at 78.2 percent.
"Leisure travelers booked 1.1 million of them. That is a 334 percent increase since 1997," said Levitz.
Going by room occupancy, those leisure travelers made sure it was hard to get a room for the weekend in Center City, according to Levitz.
"Saturday night has been the busiest night of the week for Center City hotels for 14 years, and in 2017 it hit 90 percent for the first time ever," said Levitz.
For 2018, Visit Philly says the focus will be on food, history and bringing Philly born people back to the city for visits through various new advertising campaigns.