Do you remember where you were when the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX in 2025?
Maybe you were cheering from your couch with family and friends, watching from a crowded bar or tailgating at the Linc. Wherever you were, those final moments brought a feeling that’s hard to describe. The anticipation. The excitement. The overwhelming pride in our team and our city.
In the days that followed, there was an undeniable buzz in the streets. “Go Birds” became more than a rallying cry. It was our friendly neighborhood greeting. And whether you were a football fan or not, it was hard not to feel that Philadelphia had won something bigger than a championship.
Our sports teams understand the power of moments like these. They know how to capture that energy, build on it and keep fans invested long after the final whistle.
That same sense of joy, excitement and pride returned to Philadelphia this summer. After years of preparation and a year in the national and international spotlight, we’ve gained something invaluable: momentum. Now the question is how we turn it into something that lasts?
Keeping that momentum
For much of this year, it felt like you couldn’t open a newspaper or scroll through a travel list without seeing Philadelphia. The New York Times featured Philadelphia prominently in the No. 1 entry on its 52 Places to Go in 2026 list. The Wall Street Journal named us its top place in the world to visit. Travel + Leisure included us among its 50 best places to travel.
And the headlines extended far beyond tourism. We entered the year with our first Michelin-starred restaurants. We successfully hosted six FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game and TED Democracy Philadelphia. Two of our cultural institutions brought together more than 1,000 works of American art for the landmark A Nation of Artists exhibition. The WNBA formally approved Philadelphia’s expansion team.
We have the attention, the relationships and the experience to compete on a global stage. Now we need to build on it.
Burlington chose Philadelphia for its new corporate headquarters, bringing a planned $370 million private investment and as many as 2,000 jobs. LeBron James signed with the Sixers for what he described as the final chapter of his career. And Philadelphia was becoming safer, with crime falling to levels not seen in decades.
Even our cultural moments seemed to capture national attention. Jay-Z returned to the stage at Roots Picnic after years away, debuted a new look and delivered a freestyle that had the internet talking long after he left “the Plat”.
No single event, investment or headline created this momentum. Successes kept coming across sports, business, culture, tourism and public safety, each one building on the last. Together, they attracted more attention, investment and opportunities, changing how people see Philadelphia and what we believe we can accomplish.
The power of Philadelphia’s story
From a destination marketing perspective (which is what we do at Visit Philadelphia), that matters because people rarely choose a city for just one reason. The stronger Philadelphia’s overall story becomes, the easier it is to inspire someone to visit, come back, invest here or simply see the city in a new way.
Behind that progress are years of work and collaboration by city and regional government officials, business leaders, philanthropists, sports organizations, cultural institutions, tourism and hospitality leaders, neighborhood organizations, small businesses and residents.
Big ideas require people willing to invest in them, sometimes long before there is any guarantee of success. We saw that when our regional business community stepped up during Philadelphia’s World Cup bid. We saw it again when foundations invested millions of dollars in programs and celebrations tied to America’s 250th. Those commitments helped attract additional public and private support, but just as important, they demonstrated belief in our region.
This year, we showed what Philadelphia can accomplish when all of these sectors work together. We have the attention, the relationships and the experience to compete on a global stage. Now we need to build on it.
First, we must keep investing, but not simply in the things we’ve always done. Philadelphia needs business leaders, philanthropists and investors willing to take calculated risks and support ideas that may have seemed out of reach just a few years ago. We cannot compete for major events, businesses and talent without sustained public and private investment.
The New York Times featured Philadelphia prominently in the No. 1 entry on its 52 Places to Go in 2026 list. The Wall Street Journal named us its top place in the world to visit. Travel + Leisure included us among its 50 best places to travel.
Second, we need to keep thinking like a region. One of the clearest lessons from 2026 is that visitors do not see county lines. World Cup fans, PGA spectators and leisure travelers experience the Philadelphia region as one destination. We are stronger when we market together, plan together and compete together.
Third, we have to make sure residents benefit from this momentum, too. Visitor numbers, hotel performance and national headlines are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. We should also be asking what this success means for the people who call Philadelphia home. It has to show up in daily life: safer streets, stronger neighborhoods and more opportunities reaching more parts of the city. As we pursue the next major event or opportunity, we should always consider how it will benefit the people who live here, not just the attention or investment it will bring.
And finally, we need to think about where Philadelphia can lead next. That means looking for new opportunities across multiple sectors. Women’s sports is one example. With the WNBA coming in 2030, growing interest in women’s soccer and opportunities to host major competitions, why couldn’t Philadelphia become a national leader in women’s sports, too? We should be pursuing opportunities across every sector with that same level of ambition.
We cannot recreate 2026 every year, nor should we try. But we can build on what we accomplished. The relationships we’ve formed, the investments we’ve made and the confidence we’ve gained give us a strong foundation for what comes next.
Years from now, I hope we look back on 2026 not just as the year Philadelphia welcomed the world, but as the year we decided to aim even higher.
Angela Val is president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia®, and a member of The Philadelphia Citizen board of directors.
The Citizen welcomes guest commentary from community members who represent that it is their own work and their own opinion based on true facts that they know firsthand.
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