PHILADELPHIA-Center City hotel occupancy for the months of June, July and August rose 6% this year, compared with the same three months a year ago, according to PKF Consulting. The average daily room rate jumped 8.5% in the same comparison.

Peter Tyson, SVP in the local PKF office, tells GlobeSt.com both increases are “very strong” in comparison with previous summers. He gives partial credit to “Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” an exhibit at the Franklin Institute. During its entire run, from February through September, the exhibit attracted nearly 1.3 million visitors, a 30% increase over initial projections. “It was a nice plus,” Tyson says, adding that “there were also a lot more group room nights from conventions and meetings.”

Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, confirms both. He tells GlobeSt.com the King Tut exhibit “accounted for more than 25,000 room nights during its first four months alone. The number for the full run will be higher, once the data is in. We also had good pops over the three summer holiday weekends, which are generally slow,” he says. “There were conventions here over Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day.”