Bucks County’s tourism industry is expected to benefit from Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia next September.
Credit: Wikimedia
Experts are expecting the Pope’s visit and the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia to bring a large flow of visitors and money to the city and its suburbs.
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While hotels in the city are booking up quickly, Bucks County tourism officials told LevittownNow.com recently, they expect even local hotels to start booking up for the coinciding September events.
“We’re really excited,” Paul Bencivengo, vice president of Visit Bucks County, said. “We’ve been working with the Philadelphia tourism people for the past few months to prepare.”
“We expect our hotels to be full, especially in lower Bucks,” he said.
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Visit Bucks County officials are hoping Lower Bucks County’s easy access to highways and mass transit will help draw visitors and hotel guests to the area.
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The World Meeting of Families usually brings a large amount of visitors and sometimes the Pope to its host city. Philadelphia officials have stated they expect more than 2 million people to descend upon the area for the meeting and the Pope’s visit.
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Bencivengo expects Bucks County Catholic destinations like the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in New Britain and the National Shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel in Bensalem to see large attendance bumps leading up to and during the meeting and visit by the Pope.
“We expect groups will be coming by the bus load,” Bencivengo said.
Sister Pat Downs of the National Shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel said she’s excited to “share the gift and the values of the shrine” with the many visitors they are expecting.
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As of last week, the shrine has seen several out-of-state groups looking for more information as they plan their trek to the Philadelphia area for next spring, Downs said.
“We are excited. This is a thrilling time for the whole world,” she said. “This is part of the Pope’s whole desire to bring everyone together in goodness.”
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The shrine usually sees 10,000 to 15,000 per year, but Downs expects many more than that in 2015 and is working to schedule additional hours for the Bensalem holy site.
Bencivengo said the impact of the two Catholic events could be “staggering” for the region. Estimates so far have stated the economic impact for the region could be as high as $418 million.
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Tourism brings about $895.3 million in local economic impact and $122 million in local and state taxes. There are reported to be 11,670 jobs supported by tourism just this year.
