Pennsylvania Lottery: Pennsylvania Lottery Chosen to Host 2008 International Conference
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell Thursday announced that the Pennsylvania Lottery has been selected to host the annual conference and trade show for the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) in September 2008.
The conference will be held in Philadelphia.
"Pennsylvania has the finest lottery operation in the country, and this conference will give us a chance to showcase its many successes while giving visitors a glimpse of the beauty and vitality of Pennsylvania," Governor Rendell said.
"Conferences and conventions are a vitally important component of Pennsylvania's $23 billion tourism industry. They contribute an estimated $1 billion out of the $6 billion that business travel contributes annually to our state's economy. That means hundreds of thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians."
The 2008 NASPL conference and trade show brings together the $45 billion North American lottery industry, which is comprised of 50 member lotteries from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Virgin Islands, as well as industry vendors and suppliers. NASPL estimates that the three- to four-day conference will generate approximately $5 million for the host state.
This is the first time in 31 years that the Pennsylvania Lottery has been selected to host a NASPL convention; Hershey was the site for a smaller industry convention in 1977. The 2005 NASPL conference was hosted by the Minnesota Lottery and held in Minneapolis.
The Pennsylvania Lottery has just completed its third year of double-digit sales growth. Pennsylvania Lottery sales for the 2004-05 fiscal year exceeded $2.6 billion - a 12.45 percent increase over the previous year.
The Pennsylvania Lottery was number two in total growth among all U.S. lotteries in calendar year 2004 and number one in instant game sales growth.