Philadelphia is rolling out the welcome mat in a big way.
The Philadelphia Visitor Center is opening a new satellite outpost at Philadelphia International Airport, gearing up for what promises to be one of the busiest tourism seasons in the city’s history, reports Emma Dooling for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The push comes as Philadelphia braces for a wave of visitors drawn by a remarkable convergence of marquee events: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The World Cup alone is expected to bring roughly 500,000 people to the region.
At PHL, the Visitor Center has signed a six-month lease for a 1,022-square-foot space in Terminal A-West, the airport’s international terminal.
Funded by Visit PA, the outpost will offer Pennsylvania travel information, themed merchandise, Sly Stallone Shop items, and a free postcard station, all just steps from the airport’s new Rocky statue.
The airport location is only the beginning.
The organization plans four additional satellite sites, including one at Reading Terminal Market and one along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with CEO Kathryn Ott Lovell estimating the buildout and staffing at roughly $500,000.
“We really thought about having a Visitor Center presence at the airport for a long time, and it just felt like the right time to pilot that,” Ott Lovell said.
To keep pace with the crowds, the Visitor Center is hiring 40 to 50 summer workers to staff the new outposts, while deploying Phambassadors and Youth Phambassadors as greeters across the city all season long.
The full Philadelphia Business Journal story maps out the Visitor Center’s expansion, from its first-ever airport location to four new satellite outposts welcoming the summer crowds.
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