eTourism News

Contents

1. PHILLY'S MORE AND MORE AND MORE
2. HISTORY AND MORE IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA
3. QUEST FOR FREEDOM
4. THAT'S ONE HIP HOTEL ROOM: EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES AGREES
5. BOUNDARIES, WHAT BOUNDARIES?
6. GOLDEN NUMBERS FOR THE GOLDEN BOY
7. ACCORDING TO THE PRESS
8. MEDIA, MEDIA AND MORE MEDIA
9. I'M WITH THE BRAND
10. IT'S UP, UP AND AWAY WITH AAA
11. COMING ATTRACTIONS

Philadelphia Skyline
Photo by A. Sinagoga for GPTMC

  1. PHILLY'S MORE AND MORE AND MORE

   Philly's More Creative Executions

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  2. HISTORY AND MORE IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA

On Memorial Day weekend, GPTMC and more than 30 partners launched a program to make visitors more aware of all of the shopping, dining, nightlife and cultural options available to them in the city's historic district. The marketing program is the result of a seven-month research and planning project funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. What does it entail?

   Historic Philadelphia Trolley Loop
   Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

• We're experimenting with an umbrella name and logo for the tourist district. The name, Historic Philadelphia, will not replace any one name but will be a term for the area between the Delaware River and 7^th Street and from Spruce to Race Streets and supplement the identities of the neighborhoods in the area.
• We've created a tourist transportation option, called the Historic Philadelphia Trolley Loop, to help visitors get around.
• We've tied the attractions, restaurants, shops and galleries throughout Historic Philadelphia together with advertising and marketing programs, and we’ve developed a dedicated section on www.gophila.com that showcases all there is to see and do in Historic Philadelphia through interactive mapping, video and enhanced content.

GPTMC will be conducting 1,000 intercept interviews in Historic Philadelphia throughout the summer to measure the visitor response to these new initiatives and to learn more about our visitors and their economic impact on the area. www.gophila.com/historicphiladelphia

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  3. QUEST FOR FREEDOM

   Quest for Freedom Press Conference,
   National Constitution Center
   Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

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  4. THAT'S ONE HIP HOTEL ROOM: EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES AGREES

   Room 414, The Westin Philadelphia
   Photo by J. Smith for uwishunu.com

On May 31, 2007, uwishunu™ in partnership with The Westin Philadelphia unveiled the hippest hotel room in Philly—room 414. Nearly 30 of the most creative minds in the Philadelphia design community—interior designers, printmakers, textile artists, painters and muralists—made the "Hip Hotel Room Makeover" at The Westin possible. From paintings and custom lighting by local artists to organic soaps and shampoos created here, every element of the room reflects authentic Philadelphia. A peek at the design process is available at http://www.uwishunu.com/category/hip-hotel-room-makeover/. Coming soon: a virtual tour of the room, found at www.uwishunu.com.

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  5. BOUNDARIES, WHAT BOUNDARIES?

  6. GOLDEN NUMBERS FOR THE GOLDEN BOY

   Egypt-A-Delphia, Franklin Square
   Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

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  7. ACCORDING TO THE PRESS

   Food + Wine, June 2007

• "...we love Philadelphia's flourishing BYOB restaurant scene. Often a hallmark of smaller, chef-operated restaurants, ‘Bring Your Own Bottle’ is a win-win situation."
  – National Geographic Traveler (739,985 circulation), May/June 2007
• 'Flavorhoods, one of the free downloadable podcasts from the Philadelphia tourism association's Web site, is an impressively expert tour of the city's food scene.'
  – Food + Wine (951,339 circulation), May 2007
• "A new blog, uwishunu.com (you wish you knew) is promising to put the hip side of Philadelphia back on the map. A project of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the blog is written by city dwellers about where to eat, drink and enjoy the arts."– The New York Times (1,682,644 circulation), May 20, 2007
• "Levitz and her people deserve some of the credit for the slew of tremendously positive attention the city has gotten recently from travel media, including a cover story in National Geographic Traveler touting Philly as America's ‘Next Great City.’ The ‘Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over’ campaign, a discount hotel package launched after 9/11, when hotel stays were at historic lows and other cities were obsessing over patriotic advertising, reenergized the city's tourism industry."
  – Philadelphia magazine (126,669 circulation), June 2007
• "Closer than Canarsie and home to awesome Americans like Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross and the Fresh Prince, it's time to take a chance on Philly. The sometimes sixth borough is just 90 minutes away on Greyhound..."
  – New York Post (472,839 circulation), May 26, 2007
• "Now, I'm planning to go back to Philadelphia for ravioli stuffed with mashed potatoes, pecorino and leeks at Melograno and a wood-fired pizza at Osteria. And it occurred to me: There are now more places I want to try in Philadelphia than in New York."– Food + Wine (951,339 circulation), June 2007
• "The King Tut Treasure Tour, as it's called, is a tie-in to a big King Tut show at the city's Franklin Institute. Designed by Philadelphia's tourism arm, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, it takes tourists to geocaches at 12 Tut-related sites, including the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Masonic Temple and the Academy of the Fine Arts."
  – USA Today (2,269,509 circulation), June 1, 2007
• "Their mantra during the room redo was a variation on the familiar marketing theme: Philly's more fun when you sleep over, but it's even more fun when you sleep with it — specifically, with its local artists and designers."
  – The Philadelphia Inquirer, (330,622 circulation), June 8, 2007
• "The Chef: Marc Vetri, a Philadelphia native who, along with restaurateurs like Stephen Starr, helped a city better known for cheese steaks and hoagies raise its profile as a serious dining destination."
  – The Wall Street Journal (2,062,312 circulation), June 9-10, 2007
• "There's no agency as smart, nimble, creative and energetic as Meryl Levitz's GPTMC."
  – Philadelphia Daily News (112,540 circulation), June 28, 2007

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  8. MEDIA, MEDIA AND MORE MEDIA

• From June 21–24, Philadelphia hosted the 31^st annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The 125 participants went home with plenty of Philly information after engaging in ethics discussions, visiting famous sites and attractions and noshing on delicious food, including those famous crab fries at Chickie's & Pete's.
• GPTMC and uwishunu™ hosted the inaugural BlogPhiladelphia “unconference” from July 12-13, when nearly 300 bloggers, podcasters, video-bloggers and novices from all over the country converged in the city for a free social media gathering. BlogPhiladelphia featured breakout sessions covering specific new and social media topics. In addition to the information-packed days, the group got a taste of Philly's thriving dining and nightlife scenes.
• Thirty members of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Canadian Chapter met in Philadelphia for its summer meeting from July 19–23. The group enjoyed themed tours showcasing the region's best historic sites, cultural attractions, restaurants, shops and nightlife. GPTMC also helped to organize pre- and post-conference trips to other areas of Pennsylvania.

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  9. I'M WITH THE BRAND

   GoPhilaGifts
   Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

GPTMC has launched a new line of clothing and accessories, found at www.gophilagifts.com. Now, people can show off their Philly pride—literally—when they don merchandise from their favorite campaigns, including Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over®, Boundless Philadelphia™ and uwishunu™.

For now, the products are available on the Web site in bulk quantities only, ranging from 24 to 100 pieces, making them perfect for wedding party gifts, conference giveaways or family reunion tokens. People also have the option of co-branding the gear by adding their organization's name or logo. Consumers looking for just a couple Philly pieces won't have to wait long for the fun new fashions. A list of shops that carry the Philadelphia apparel will soon be listed on www.gophilagifts.com.

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  10. IT'S UP, UP AND AWAY WITH AAA

Our AAA efforts will go north in July when GPTMC reaches out to the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA)'s South Central Ontario club. Our AAA marketing coordinator will meet with their managers of travel services, land product and marketing to create opportunities to promote the Philadelphia region to CAA members.

CAA South Central Ontario is the largest of nine Canadian clubs. A representative of GPTMC will visit all 43 of CAA's branch offices, servicing more than 1.7 million people, to educate the agents on Philadelphia and promote our specially created hotel packages. We are currently in contact with CAA Quebec to schedule a similar educational and outreach program with them. www.gophila.com/aaa

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  11. COMING ATTRACTIONS

• 
     Philadelphia Folk Festival
     Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC

• Through August 12, 2007: William H. Johnson's World on Paper, Philadelphia Museum of Art. (215) 763-8100, www.philamuseum.org
• Through September 3, 2007: Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives, National Constitution Center.
  (215) 409-6700, www.constitutioncenter.org
• Through October 21, 2007: Soldier, James A. Michener Art Museum.
  (215) 340-9800, www.michenermuseum.org
• August 17-19, 2007: Philadelphia Folk Festival, Schwenksville. (800) 556-FOLK, www.folkfest.org
• August 31-September 15, 2007: Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, throughout Center City. (215) 413-9006, www.livearts-fringe.org
• September 8-November 18, 2007: Everything Autumn, Longwood Gardens.
  (610) 388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org

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