Philadelphia, PA
- On October 20, Mayor Jim Kenney and representatives from the City’s Department of Commerce will depart for a multi-city international business trip with stops in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Philadelphia officials will spend time in nine cities, including: Dublin, Clonmel, Athlone and Cork in Ireland, Derry City and Belfast in Northern Ireland, and London, Reading and Cambridge in England.
The main focus of the trip is business development, with additional activities planned to support city-to-city relationship building and tourism promotion. City officials will be overseas October 20-29. Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Select Greater Philadelphia and the PHLCVB are also conducting parallel missions in Ireland and the U.K. and will join the City delegation for several activities at various points throughout the trip.
“The opportunities in Ireland and the U.K. to attract businesses to Philadelphia and raise our city’s international profile are outstanding,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “Both of these countries contribute greatly to our local economy through the jobs tied to U.K. and Ireland-based companies, as well as tourism-related spending. Philadelphia thrives in part thanks to our connections to communities across the globe, and I look forward to strengthening our relationships with partners in the nine cities we are visiting.”
Over 95% of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States, and as a result, international business opportunities are vital to the continued growth of domestic businesses. The U.K. is the top foreign direct investment source market for Pennsylvania, with companies creating more jobs in the commonwealth than any other country. Both the U.K. and Ireland are top markets for business development activity in Philadelphia based on research conducted during the City’s participation in the Brookings Global Cities Initiative market prioritization cohort earlier this year. Additionally, Philadelphia welcomes the most overseas visitors from the U.K. The PHLCVB is currently in the midst of a month-long tourism generation campaign in the U.K. that includes several activities planned around the Eagles game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium and a stop at Work Travel Market – one of the largest annual global travel trade shows.
