Pennsylvania tourism office lays out 2026 marketing, fan‑zone and transport plans as Commonwealth prepares to host major events

Harrisburg, Pa. — Deputy Secretary Anne Ryan, deputy secretary for tourism, told the House Tourism & Economic & Recreational Development Committee on April 15 that Pennsylvania is building a statewide marketing and operations plan to turn the marquee events of 2026 into multi‑year tourism gains across the Commonwealth.

Ryan said the office’s strategy centers on a Pennsylvania 2026 campaign that will start July 5, pulse through 2025 and run “full throttle” beginning Jan. 1, 2026, with the single goal to “move visitors beyond the host cities and inspire travel across the entire Commonwealth.”

The plan is aimed at leveraging multiple high‑profile events — including the FIFA World Cup host‑state opportunities, the NFL draft, a PGA championship and Major League Baseball festivities — to boost visitation statewide. Ryan told the committee the department will combine paid media, grants to destination marketing organizations (DMOs), physical visitor activations and subsidized access to FIFA branding to encourage visitors to travel beyond Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Ryan said Pennsylvania's tourism office administered $6,000,000 in grants in the past year and runs a media buy of about $14,000,000 annually. She referenced Governor Josh Shapiro's current tourism appropriation of $19,300,000 and a proposed $64,000,000 budget item to prepare the Commonwealth for 2026; she also said the office is seeking an additional $10,000,000 in marketing funds in 2026 to help subsidize participation costs for DMOs. "We are grateful for your partnership and your belief in the power of tourism," Ryan said.

The department plans three major regional fan zones for the World Cup in Western, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania (Ryan named Pittsburgh, Hershey and the Scranton area as the regions under consideration) featuring jumbotrons, food and youth events. Ryan said the office is working with Philadelphia Soccer 2026 to offer DMOs access to FIFA watch‑party rights on a nominal buy‑in that would otherwise require substantial brand licensing fees.

Ryan gave statewide performance data for 2024: 33,000,000 hotel rooms sold (a 1% increase over 2023) and $4,700,000,000 in hotel room revenue (1.4% higher than 2023), and said the leisure and hospitality workforce grew about 14% year over year. She also said Visit PA is targeting the roughly 72,000,000 people who live within a four‑hour drive of Pennsylvania.

Committee members pressed Ryan on transportation and lodging capacity. "Is the tourism department doing anything to try and promote mass transit in order to keep them afloat?" Representative Serrato asked, citing concern that regional transit agencies could lose service before 2026 if ridership and funding do not recover. Ryan said the office has begun conversations with agencies including SEPTA and PennDOT and that those talks are ongoing; she said the tourism office was "briefed in by SEPTA last week" and that staff are exploring turnkey overnight bus tours and coach partnerships as a pilot to distribute visitors from host cities into surrounding regions.

Representative Powell and others raised lodging capacity concerns in counties with few hotels. Ryan described a "Great American Getaway Co‑op" grant that funds collaborative itineraries and marketing between counties and larger DMOs (for example, partnering smaller counties with Visit Pittsburgh) to capture visitor spending even where overnight lodging is limited. She clarified the co‑op grant supports coordination and marketing assets and influencer engagement rather than capital investment in hotels.

On infrastructure funding, Ryan said the tourism office does not currently have capital funding for large infrastructure projects and that identifying revenue streams to support tourism infrastructure (including lodging and transportation) is an ongoing discussion with stakeholders such as the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association (PRLA) and local governments. "That funding doesn't currently exist at the moment," she said.

Ryan described physical activations planned for 2026: an immersive planning experience at the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia, co‑branding at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, airport arrival/departure activations, and the possibility of reusing the tourism office's Flower Show elk exhibit at visitor centers and airports. She also said the office plans to pilot turnkey bus tours from Philadelphia to destinations such as Gettysburg, Hershey, the Poconos and Lancaster.

On measurement, Ryan said Tourism Economics prepares the office's economic reports; she expects the 2024 economic impact report in June and said the office will receive Tourism Economics' projected economic impact for 2026 on April 30. She told the committee the office projects at least an incremental 2,000,000 visitors related to 2026 events based on early briefings from event organizers.

Ryan described PA United, a coalition of statewide organizers (including Visit Pittsburgh, the NFL draft, the PGA, Visit Philly, America 250 PA, Visit Gettysburg and Visit Lancaster) intended to coordinate outreach and avoid duplication. She said the coalition's first meeting will be May 28 and offered to provide the committee with meeting dates and regular memos to keep legislators informed.

The committee held the session as an informational hearing; no motions or votes were recorded on the record.

Even as members expressed support for the statewide campaign, several underscored risks: limited mass transit capacity in and between host cities, insufficient hotel rooms in some regions, and the lack of an identified capital funding source for infrastructure. Ryan said the office will continue to brief the committee and work with local DMOs, PennDOT, transit agencies and private partners to pilot transportation options and refine funding proposals ahead of 2026.