Philadelphia County Tourism Impact Greater Hospitality Industry

Economic Impact

The hospitality and tourism industry is a job creator and revenue generator.

The latest data shows $4.4 billion in visitor-specific spending which generated $7.1 billion in annual economic impact (or nearly $19.5 million every day).

Visitor spending also supports the attractions, restaurants and shops that residents enjoy. Below is the breakdown of visitor spending in 2018:

Rev. 02-25-2020 1 1 Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines leisure and hospitality jobs as those in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodations and food service. Philadelphia’s tourism industry provides work for city residents by creating leisure and hospitality jobs opportunities—entry level to sustainable careers.

Over the past decade, employment in leisure and hospitality has grown 31% and is the highest of any employment sector in Philadelphia over the same time period.

The latest data from BLS reports there are 74,000 leisure and hospitality jobs in Philadelphia. This represents 12.2% of all jobs located in Philadelphia County. Of those jobs, Philadelphia residents hold 69,000 of them (with 5,000 commuting into the city for work.)

The map below shows how many residents in each council district work in leisure and hospitality. It is worth noting that each council district has at least 6,000 residents working in the industry.

District 1 District 2

District 3 District 4 Curtis Jones, Jr.

District 5 District 6 Darrell L. Clarke

District 7 District 8 Maria Quiñones-Sanchez

District 9 District 10 Brian J. O’Neill 2 This map shows how many leisure and hospitality jobs are located in each council district.

3 Tax Revenue

Tourism generates $342 million in tax revenue for the city and school district that helps fund priority programs and services. (Source: EConsult Solutions, Inc.) This revenue is legislated to support:

Here is a detail of the tax revenue generated in 2018 by tax type and its legislated use:

Revenue Source Philadelphia County Legislated Revenue Use

Consumption Taxes Hotel Tax $68.20 million $12.28 million Visit Phila: Tourism Promotion $16.30 million PHLCVB: Tourism Promotion $39.62 million PCCA: Convention Center Debt Sales and Use Taxes $27.20 million General Fund Liquor by the Drink Tax $24.60 million School District Amusement Tax $6.00 million General Fund Vehicle Rental Tax $4.40 million Stadium Debt Parking Lot Tax $2.70 million General Fund Sub-total $133.10 million

General Taxes Income/Wage Taxes $67.40 million Business Taxes $18.00 million Property Tax $123.30 million Sub-total $208.70 million 2018 Total $342 million

(Source: EConsult Solutions, Inc. and City of Philadelphia and School District of Philadelphia Revenue Reports)

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