Philadelphia and Valley Forge

With an array of revitalization projects that have transformed the "City of Brotherly Love" into a vibrant Eastern metro rich with facilities and amenities, Philadelphia has cemented its staying power on the group stage.

While additional venues and attractions continue to come on-line, the appeal of the Greater Philadelphia area is further enhanced by outlying communities such as Valley Forge and Bucks County, historic country hamlets that are also stocked with meeting options.

Philadelphia

History is a hallmark of Philly, and one of the city's renowned figures of yesteryear, the distinguished Benjamin Franklin, was spotted in Honolulu last month, attending a luncheon during the PCMA 49th Annual Meeting. In a grass skirt and full of aloha, he was stirring interest in next year's PCMA event, which Philadelphia will host.

The city will have plenty to spotlight for PCMA delegates in 2005. Philly has poured more than $1.5 billion into destination projects since 2001, the same year ASAE was in town.

"We're promoting a new Philadelphia, one that provides a phenomenal meetings package," says Jack Ferguson, vice president of convention sales for the Philadelphia CVB and PCMA Ben Franklin impersonator.

Located between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, Center City, Philadelphia's downtown, is home to the Philadelphia Convention Center (PCC). The facility boasts 1.4 million square feet of space, which will grow by 1 million square feet under a planned $633 million expansion that is slated to be finished in December 2008. Upon completion of the project, the PCC will have 541,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, pushing it past Boston's center, which currently claims the largest amount of contiguous exhibit space (516,000 square feet) in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

"This will allow for larger conventions, and the way the center will be laid out with two entrances, we can hold two conventions simultaneously," Ferguson says.

The PCC was the first convention center to offer free high-speed wireless Internet access in public areas, while it also spotlights a $2 million art collection, and it's just a few blocks from the Old City Cultural District, the "Nation's Most Historic Square Mile."

PCC's grand hall and ballroom occupy the historic Reading Railroad Terminal, which has been restored to its original architectural splendor. The facility is connected by walkway to another part of the historic complex that is now known as the Reading Terminal Market, a bustling marketplace full of fresh food vendors and restaurants.

In the decade following the PCC's 1993 opening, Center City's hotel room count almost doubled to more than 10,000. Today, there are 4,100 guest rooms within a four-minute walk of the center; 6,400 within a 10-minute walk; and 9,000 within a 15-minute walk.

The PCC is connected by skybridge to the 1,408-room Philadelphia Marriott, which has 81,000 square feet of meeting space.

Several meetings-oriented properties are located near the convention center, including Loews Philadelphia, Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown, Hilton Garden Inn, and Hampton Inn.

Meanwhile, other major properties catering to groups include Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue; The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia; Sofitel Philadelphia; and Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing.

For off-site venues, the Philadelphia CVB promotes more than 20 museums, a dozen restaurants and more than 40 other establishments. Options include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which will run a 200-work Dali exhibit from Feb. 16 through May 15, and the Philadelphia Zoo, which will open a $50 million big cat exhibit in spring 2006.

A number of dazzling venues have debuted since 2001, including the $265 million Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which has 12 event spaces for groups of from 50 to 1,600 people.

Meanwhile, the new $38 million Independence Visitor Center and the $185 million National Constitution Center can both handle receptions for more than 1,000 people. Together with the new $13 million Liberty Bell Center, the facilities make up the three-block area known as Independence Mall.

Kate Stockton, marketing director at Roberts Events in Philly, says that with abundant hotels, off-site venues and history, the city is ideal for a wide range of group sizes and interests.

"Demand for team building has increased, and the way the city is laid out, it's great for historical scavenger hunts," she says.

Another company, GEP Philly, offers a one-of-a-kind team-building program that includes sculling at Boathouse Row on the Schuylkill River.

"[Groups] are taught to row as a team," says Mike Lyons, president and CEO of GEP Philly.

Lyons says Philly has become a multifaceted destination on par with other evolving cities of the East.

"It's not your grandfather's Philadelphia," he says. "It's thriving, changing, dynamic, and hip, with great architectural jewels and wonderful ethnic neighborhoods."

Besides marketing Philly's ever-improving ambience and expanded convention facility, the Philadelphia CVB has focused sales efforts on short-term bookings. Last year, the number booked for up to 24 months before arrival doubled over previous years.

"Much of the short-term business is price-conscious, and lower airfares helped," Ferguson says.

Last May, Southwest Airlines inaugurated service to Philadelphia International Airport, where a new $450 million terminal opened less than two years ago. Additionally, government statistics show that for the second quarter of 2004, Philadelphia had the nation's largest fare decline—9.9 percent compared to the same period in 2003—while nationwide fares increased .4 percent.

Meanwhile, Central City room rates, which averaged $131 last year, compare favorably with Northeast corridor cities, Ferguson adds.

Central City is heavily dependent on meetings and conventions, which account for 44 percent of room nights. A total of 16 citywides are scheduled for 2005, up from 14 held last year, although down from 27 in 2002 and 19 in 2003.

Yet there are signs that new destination development is already paying off. According to a D.K. Shifflet report released in December, total visitation to the five-county Philadelphia area increased 12 percent in 2003, compared to a nationwide increase of 1 percent.

Nearby counties include Bucks, with 608 square miles of country roads, wineries, covered bridges, and inviting corporate retreats spreading northeast of Philadelphia.

A top attraction in Bucks County is the town of New Hope, with numerous art galleries, antiques stores and restaurants along the Delaware River. Another lure is Peddlers Village at Lahaska, with more than 70 stores, restaurants, a dinner theater, and a 66-room inn with meeting facilities.

Valley Forge

The Valley Forge area, situated roughly 20 miles northwest of downtown Philadelphia, has developed two separate convention hubs in King of Prussia and Fort Washington, while a number of other towns offer comprehensive conference facilities.

King of Prussia is renowned for the 3,600-acre Valley Forge National Historical Park, site of George Washington's famous winter encampment of 1777-'78, and the massive King of Prussia Mall, with more than 40 restaurants and food outlets, 360 shops and eight department stores.

Within two miles of each other are the park, the mall and the Valley Forge Convention Plaza.

The plaza's Valley Forge Convention Center offers 108,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space and two connected hotels: the 328-room Radisson Hotel Valley Forge, home of Lily Langtry's Victorian Restaurant and Showplace, and the 160-room Valley Forge Scanticon Hotel and Conference Center, with 15,000 square feet of meeting space.

Fort Washington, located 15 miles from King of Prussia, boasts the Fort Washington Expo Center, which is promoted as the East Coast's largest and busiest suburban exhibition center. The facility has 272,000 square feet of exhibition space and 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and can accommodate groups of up to 3,000 people.

The Valley Forge CVB mainly targets groups of 1,000 delegates for the two convention centers and groups of up to 400 people for individual properties. Of its 60 member properties with a total of 7,500 rooms, 14 are meeting and convention hotels.

The CVB recently launched a web-based housing service for area-wide conventions.

With lower room rates than Philadelphia, no parking fees and a room tax of just 2 percent, Valley Forge boasts a number of cost-related selling points that have allowed the CVB to diversify its group mix.

"We're breaking into the association market in Washington, D.C., and we do really well with military reunions and even ship reunions because of the area's history," says Dave Bradley, director of convention sales at the Valley Forge CVB. "We also seem to get lots of area-wide religious conventions."

The bureau can claim one of the nation's highest concentrations of IACC-certified conference centers in its membership. Among the options in the area are the Valley Forge Scanticon Hotel and Conference Center and Sheraton Park Ridge, both in King of Prussia; the ACE Center at Lafayette Hill; the Desmond Great Valley Hotel and Conference Center in Malvern; the Gregg Conference Center at The American College in Bryn Mawr; and the Villanova Conference Center at Villanova University in Radnor. Additionally, Crowne Plaza Valley Forge, which opened across from King of Prussia Mall last September, is awaiting IACC approval for its new conference facilities.

Valley Forge attractions include several zoos, wineries and historical homes, while gardens such as Awbury Arboretum & Historic Site, Morris Arboretum and Gardens, and Tyler Arboretum offer meeting and event space. In addition, West Chester, situated 15 miles from King of Prussia, is home to QVC Studio Park, offering an outlet store, tours and function space.

For More Info

Bucks County Conference & Visitors Bureau     215.639.0300     www.experiencebuckscounty.com

Philadelphia CVB     215.636.3300     www.pcvb.org

Valley Forge CVB     610.834.1550     www.valleyforge.org