Philly, give yourself a well-deserved fist-bump.
For the sixth-straight year, the city has shattered tourism rates of the previous year, welcoming 41 million visitors in 2015, up from 39 million in 2014, based on newly released statistics from Visit Philly. That’s translated to an economic boom, too. Visit Philly says tourists generated $10.7 billion in economic impact. That’s $29 million every day.
Since 2010, the city has experienced nearly 10 percent growth in domestic tourism, which has equated to a 23 percent growth in economic impact.
We’ve come a long way from our reputation as just that lame city you travel to each year for a field trip to the Constitution Center, or the home of the Lincoln Center. Last year, Philly hosted the Pope (and was subsequently named the United States’ firstWorld Heritage City). And, theDemocratic National Convention is just weeks away.
Philadelphia's rise hasn’t gone unnoticed:Lonely Planetnamed it the best place to visit in the U.S. earlier this year;The New York Timesdeemed Philadelphia its top U.S.destination in 2015, and showed us some major love in its"36 Hours"series in May.
In an interview withPhilly Mag, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia Meryl Levitz said the positive growth isn’t surprising.
"Every year, Philadelphia becomes a better and better city," she told the magazine. "Success breeds success."
