Center City Hotels Score Big with Guests During Eagles’ Super Bowl Run
The Philadelphia Eagles‘ Super Bowl parade on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, bolstered Center City’s occupancy rate by 90% and generated $4.3 million in additional revenues for the city’s hospitality industry.
Visit Philadelphia and several other tourism organizations released these findings on Thursday, Feb. 27. Their report reviewed occupancy rates at Philadelphia hotels between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, from Pine Street north to Vine Street, and hotels in University City.
Tourism industry leaders were surprised by the boost in Center City revenue during what is traditionally a slow time of year for visitation.
“This has been great for Philadelphia hotels because normally February is not exactly our busiest time,” said Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, in comments shared with the Philly Voice. He added that people likely chose to book hotels in Center City to be closer to the parade. The city estimated that approximately 1 million people attended the Super Bowl parade.
The parade weekend wasn’t the only big event that bolstered visitation to Philadelphia. The Eagles’ three-week run of home playoff games — Jan. 12, 19, and 26 — gave Center City hotels approximately $2.4 million in additional revenue.
The Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning season surprised many in the city’s hospitality industry, which anticipated 2025 to be down in hotel revenue. According to Grose, convention center calendars aren’t as full this year as previous years. Next year, 2026, will be a huge year for the city’s hospitality industry and local economy, with the nation’s semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary celebration next July. The summer of 2026 will also bring the FIFA World Cup and MLB’s All-Star Game to Philadelphia.
Grose said he was particularly happy to see the benefits of the increase in visitation reach members of the city’s hospitality community. “Our hospitality people work very hard,” he said, “and it’s good to see them rewarded with a banner day that wasn’t expected.”
