NEW STUDY REVEALS ENORMITY OF GROUP TOURISM IN REGION

And Impact Expected to Grow Due to Motorcoach Show

 PHILADELPHIA…January 10, 2011….A just-released study of the region’s motorcoach business shows that buses brought approximately 1.4 million visitors to Philadelphia and the region each year. The total economic impact of motorcoaches traveling to the region in 2010 was $271.6 million.

The study, called the “Economic Impact of Motorcoach Tourism in Southeastern Pennsylvania,” was unveiled on the cusp of the American Bus Association’s (ABA) Marketplace, the largest business-to-business show in the group travel industry, which will meet in Philadelphia from January 8 through 12, 2011. The study was spearheaded by the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB) and its countryside partners (Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, Valley Forge Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Bucks County Conference and Visitors Bureau), along with the American Bus Association Foundation.

According to the study, the 1.4 million motorcoach visitors that traveled to the area in 2010, spent money on attractions, events, meals, shopping and hotel accommodations, providing significant economic benefits to local businesses, generating sales and excise tax revenues and creating jobs.

“What makes these economic impact numbers even more exciting is that the region is about to host ABA Marketplace, with more than 2,700 travel industry professionals, including 600 tour operators and other bulk “buyers” of travel and tourism services,” said  Fritz Smith, Vice President of Tourism, PCVB. “Historically, the ABA host city sees an increase in group tourism business in the years following the show. That could mean an even more significant amount of fresh dollars flowing into the Philadelphia region from bus tours in coming years. This is an opportunity to showcase all the new developments like President’s House and the National Museum of American Jewish History.”

Of the $271.6 million generated by the motorcoach business in the region in 2010, the largest percentage, $146.9 million, was spent on or by guests. Approximately $58.8

million was spent on retail purchases, $45.2 million on food and beverages, $35.7 million on attraction admissions fees and more than $7.3 million on accommodations. In addition to this spending, motorcoach operators spent as much as $22.5 million in Southeastern Pennsylvania on operational expenses like fuel, parking and repairs. Another $33 million was estimated to be collected in state and local tax revenues from motorcoach based tourism in the area -- $11.6 million from property taxes, $10.9 million from sales and use taxes and $3.4 million from income taxes. Additional funds were spent on bridges, equipment and other incidentals.

About 700 companies sent 31,100 motorcoaches to the Philadelphia region in 2010. The buses carried approximately 130,500 overnight guests and 1,292,000 day-trippers. The average overnight bus trip generates just more than $10,000, per trip, while the average day trip contributes about $5,000 to the local economy.

The million plus bus tourists coming to the region support as many as 3,437 jobs in 113 different industries. Significantly, the jobs tend to be entry level jobs in the hospitality industry, such as positions in restaurants, taverns and the retail sector, which do not always require a degree and can be stepping stones to management positions.   

About 40% of the motorcoach spending in the region was in Philadelphia County. Bucks County had the next largest amount of spending with 24% followed by Montgomery County with 13%, Delaware County with 12% and Chester with 11%.

“The good news is that the region is so rich with attractions that both the city and the surrounding counties prosper, regardless of where the groups overnight, thanks to spending on admissions, meals and retail purchases. Motor coach tours epitomize the "win-win" syndrome for the operators, their patrons and our destinations and businesses,” said Paul Decker, President, Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The ABA Marketplace is being planned by a coalition of Pennsylvania partners including the PCVB, Philadelphia and The Countryside, the Pennsylvania Office of Tourism, the South Jersey Tourism Corporation, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conventions and Visitors Bureaus.

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About the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB), www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel, a private non-profit corporation, is the City of Philadelphia’s primary sales organization. The mission of the PCVB is to market Philadelphia as a convention, meeting and tourist destination to regional, national and international audiences. Focusing on the meetings and conventions business and the travel trade, the PCVB’s sales force works diligently to increase the city’s hotel occupancy and average daily rate, while concurrently affecting other segments of the hospitality industry.

About the ABA
The American Bus Association is the trade organization of the intercity bus industry with more than 1000 motorcoach owner and tour company members in the United States and Canada. Its members operate charter, tour, regular route, airport express, special operations and contract services. Another 2,600 members are travel and tourism organizations and suppliers of bus products and services who work in partnership with the North American motorcoach industry. Visit www.buses.org for more information.