Successful Meetings - January 2009 - (Page 76)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PHILADELPHIA Home to the 2008 World Champion Phillies baseball team, Philadelphia’s winning ways continue to the benefit of meeting planners. The Pennsylvania Convention Center will increase its footprint by 60 percent, making it the 14th largest convention center in the country. Expected to be completed in early 2011, the $777 million expansion will result in one million total square feet of saleable space, including the largest contiguous exhibit space in the Northeast—541,000 square feet and a new 50,000-squarefoot ballroom. Two major conventions will be able to take place at the same time. Among the features of the expanded convention center will be a new Broad Street entrance, in addition to the entrance at 12th and Arch streets. With 40 percent of the U.S. population within a day’s drive of Philadelphia, the city can boost attendance by its location alone in the heart of the Northeast Corridor. As the birthplace of American independence and the U.S. Constitution, Philadelphia presents attendees with some of the most important historical attractions in the country. CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU A convention center expansion will make the “City of Brotherly Love” the exhibition space leader in the Northeast. with prime amenities and packages for CITY VIEW Inside Scoop every budget; an additional 2,000-2,500 rooms are expected in preparation for the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion • Philadelphia hotels have spent, or are budgeted to spend, $231 million in renovations • Three hotels under construction will add 532 rooms by late 2009 • Hotel Palomar, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc. currently renovating architects building, $92 million project, slated to open in late 2009 with 235 rooms and 8,000 square feet of meeting space • Sheraton Four Points, eight-story, 90-room hotel currently being built across from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, slated to open in late 2009 • Le Meridien, scheduled to open in January 2009, with 195 rooms on five floors and 6,000 square feet of meeting space N ew Complete Meeting Packages are available, designed to make doing business in Philadelphia easy. The per person, per day cost includes guest room, meeting rental room, AM/PM breaks, basic A/V, and roll-in lunch. To learn more, visit www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel/CMP. Category 6 data cabling • Extensive art collection DIVERSIONS & EXCURSIONS World-class sports, arts and culture, and entertainment abound in one of the nation’s most walkable cities • Home to tax-free shopping on clothes and shoes • More than 200 Center City restaurants from upscale eateries to cosmopolitan nightlife, fabulous four-star finds, and quaint BYOBs • Home to one of America’s largest and oldest farmers’ markets, Reading Terminal Market, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Convention Center • Chinatown, also next to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, one of the most historic sections of Philadelphia, dating back to the mid-1800s MEETINGS BLUEPRINT Currently, the Pennsylvania Convention Center has more than 440,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 33,000-squarefoot ballroom, and 50 meeting rooms • Connected indoors to the Reading Terminal Market, a Hard Rock Café, FedEx Kinko’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel • Wireless infrastructure, fiber-optic cabling, PROPERTY PRIMER Philadelphia offers 10,000 hotel rooms The Big Day: Early 2011 The Bottom Line: $777 million MAP IT OUT Some 650 domestic and international flights serve Philadelphia International Airport. Easily accessible from New York City (one hour by train, two hours by car) and Washington, D.C. (an hour and 45 minutes by train, three hours by car). CONTACT Pat Kraft-Hilpl Vice President of Convention Sales (800) CALL-PHL E-mail: convsales@pcvb.org www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel www.paconvention.com SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION http://www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel/CMP http://www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel http://www.paconvention.com

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