Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Bureau is planning a strategy to revitalize Montgomery County’s hospitality industry and stimulate the economy amid year-end numbers highlighting the devastating impact COVID-19 will have on the sector in 2020. reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Tourism is a major economic engine for Montgomery County. In normal times, it contributes an annual economic impact of $ 1.65 billion and supports up to 30,000 jobs. PBJ.com first reported. Both numbers fell 50% in 2020, resulting in a loss of $ 800 million for the county’s economy and a loss of $ 150 million for personal income.

These losses were due to Montco’s hospitality industry gearing up for a record 2020 after a decade of steady growth in key hotel performance indicators, including occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per room available (RevPAR).

Ultimately, more than $ 106 million in hotel revenue was lost in 2020, compared to the $ 250 million in revenue the county generated from 2 million room nights in 2019. Hotel occupancy dropped from 66% year-over-year to 39%, the average daily rate fell 19% to $ 95, and RevPAR fell 52% to $ 37. The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board recorded 120 event cancellations, resulting in losses of $ 4.5 million and 46,000 room nights.

PBJ.com speaks with Valley Forge’s Tourism and Convention Committee about the relaunch plan for 2021 that uses the slogan #MakeItHappen.

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