Philadelphia’s New Conventions CEO on Reinventing Old Meetings Ideas

Julie Coker Graham assumed her role as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau on January 1 this year, making her the first female African American in that position in the U.S. Previous to that, Graham was executive VP of the CVB in charge of managing all departments and operations. She began her hospitality and tourism career with Hyatt Hotels over two decades ago, where she rose to general manager by the age of 30, and twice she was nominated as Hyatt GM of the year in 2004 and 2006. Philadelphia is unusual in American tourism promotion because the city has both a destination marketing organization for the domestic market, Visit Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia CVB that services the meetings industry and long-haul markets. The primary mandate for the CVB is to fill the Pennsylvania Convention Center and 12,000 surrounding hotel rooms. Up until the end of 2013, Philadelphia had somewhat of a perception challenge among meeting planners for its