Philadelphia's Popularity Among Travelers Increasing

The popularity of Philadelphia as a tourist destination is increasing. People are visiting the city more often both for business and leisure trips. The recent statistics from this past summer that were recently released indicate how true those statements are. The visitors to the area, whether they were traveling for business or pleasure found the rates for hotels in the Philadelphia region to be more than just competitive with other Northeast cities, they were more affordable that those competing cities.These statistics were provided in a recent press release from the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.

The statistics provided in the press release for the summer months of June, July, and August that were recently issued give a strong indication of where the city of Philadelphia has increased in popularity. The occupancy rate for their center city hotels in Philadelphia this summer was 82 percent. That is five percent higher than it was the previous summer. The nights where it was hardest to find a room were Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. In the five counties that make up the greater Philadelphia region, the hotel occupancy rate was 77 percent during the summer. That was an increase of two percent over the same time frame last year.

Along with the increase in occupancy, travelers also found higher hotel rates in the Philadelphia area recently. The rates were 9% higher than the same three month period last year. Despite this increase in rental rates, Philadelphia was still a bargain destination compared with its big city neighbors. Hotels in New York, Boston, and Washington, DC were all higher than Philadelphia. The highest of those three was New York at $274 average per night. Washington, DC had the lowest among those with a daily rate of $178. Meanwhile, Philadelphia's rate was just $165.