Recognizing, Honoring, Celebrating, and Thanking Tom Muldoon on the Occasion of his Retirement as president of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

WHEREAS, Mr. Muldoon, a native of Brooklyn, New York, began his career with Loews Hotels in 1962, rapidly moving up the management ladder so that by age 28, he was manager of the Loews City Squire Hotel, now the Sheraton Manhattan, making him the youngest general manager in New York City; and

WHEREAS, After 12 years with Loews, Mr. Muldoon became general manager of the New York Barclay Hotel now known as the Intercontinental New York, was hired in 1979 by Canadian Pacific to open Philadelphia's Franklin Plaza Hotel known today as the Sheraton City Center in Philadelphia, and subsequently opened Philadelphia's Adam's Mark Hotel in 1982; and

WHEREAS, In 1985, Mr. Muldoon became president of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and in close partnership with the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, led the effort to position the hospitality industry as Philadelphia's growth industry for the 1990s; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Muldoon was a leader in the initiative to build the Pennsylvania Convention Center that opened in 1993; and

WHEREAS,

During his twenty-five years of leadership in the City's convention and tourism efforts, Mr. Muldoon created several divisions of the PCVB including the Multicultural Affairs Congress, the most successful multicultural tourism and convention initiative in the country, the Philadelphia Sports Congress, and the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Muldoon has played a key role in securing Philadelphia as the main home for the Army/Navy Game and further raising Philadelphia's visibility as a destination by hosting the 2000 Republican National Convention: and

WHEREAS, In 2002, Mr. Muldoon worked to secure funding for the region's first international tourism marketing campaign which resulted in Philadelphia's seeing record-numbers of international visitors from the PCVB's target markets thus moving Philadelphia from the 21st to the 11th most-visited city in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Muldoon, envisioning the further enhancement of Philadelphia's hospitality infrastructure by the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, was an integral member of the leadership team that supported that expansion which will give Philadelphia the ability to host mega trade shows or two major conventions simultaneously.

BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it recognizes, honors, celebrates, and thanks Tom Muldoon on the occasion of his retirement as president of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Tom Muldoon, further evidencing the sincere admiration and gratitude of this legislative body.

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