Greater Philadelphia’s convention and large events industry is starting to transition back into the realm of in-person gatherings as COVID-19 vaccinations continue and people begin feeling more comfortable out and about, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Last month Philadelphia hosted East Coast Volleyball’s 2021 Northeast Volleyball Qualifier tournament, marking the city’s first large-scale, in-person event in more than a year because of the pandemic.
The citywide, meaning an event generating upwards of 2,000 hotel rooms nights on its busiest night, makes Philly the first major Northeast city to host such an event at a convention center in over a year ahead of Washington D.C., Baltimore, New York and Boston, according to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A spokeswoman for the organization told the Philadelphia Business Journal that there are nine additional citywides on the books throughout 2021 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which has spent upwards of $10 million on pandemic-related upgrades and other renovations during its downtime over the last year.
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PBJ.com digs deeper into the good news for Philly's hard-hit convention and event industry that John McNichol, CEO at Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, said is “an important turning point” for the industry.
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