eTourism News

This issue's highlights include...

1. Isn't It Great to Live in Philadelphia?
2. More Great Press
3. The Brooklyn Effect
4. Moving on Up: Tourism Numbers on the Rise Again
5. Looks Like an A+ Year for AAA
6. It's a Touchdown for Philly Sports Fans
7. Phlash Beats Ridership Goals
8. Visitor Speak
9. Gearing Up for Ben's Big 3-0-0
10. Hot Off the Press
11. Getting Lucky in Philly
12. Tom Joyner Tells It Like It Is:
    Mass Marketing Misses the Mark
13. Extreme Hotel Makeover, Philly Style
14. What's Old is New Again on Girard Avenue
15. Once Upon A Nation: To Be Continued
16. Philly Goes Hollywood
17. Coming Attractions

"It's Philly's turn for the limelight."

"Philly...is clearly on a roll."

"This city is ready for its second act."

From beginning to end, National Geographic Traveler's "Philly, Really" article, appearing in the October issue of the publication, praises the place that they call America's "Next Great City." We couldn't agree more. While our history has always set us apart, our arts and cultural attractions, restaurants and nightspots are also impressive and well deserving of the extraordinary recognition the magazine has bestowed upon them. The nine-page article showcases Philadelphia as the sophisticated destination it is, and in doing so lends us an invaluable hand in our effort to expand the city's image beyond cheesesteaks and Rocky. We expect the readers of National Geographic Traveler - there are more than five million readers worldwide - to come to Philadelphia in great numbers as a result.

The National Geographic Traveler piece is the latest in a string of significant Philadelphia press coverage, including placements in Rolling Stone, Travel + Leisure, the New York Times and others. From last year's broadcast of MTV's The Real World to this summer's Live 8 and Elton John benefit concerts to the upcoming Ben Franklin 300 Philadelphia celebration, our region has achieved significant and widely recognized momentum. Together, we can keep it going. Hats off to everyone!

Manuel N.Stamatakis and Meryl Levitz

Keith Bellows of National Geographic Traveler presents Mayor Street with the "Next Great City" honor.

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Philadelphia is hot, and not only in the pages of National Geographic Traveler magazine. In June and July alone, GPTMC's public relations department generated 2,466 stories for a value of $21,902,865. Here's a look at some recent best hits:
"...Philadelphia is an active city that keeps reinventing itself with a resounding modern performance hall and a home run of a new ballpark. You can run, inline skate, or stroll the paths of one of the world's largest urban parks, or bike the banks of the Schuylkill River. Philadelphia may be large, but it's easy to navigate on foot. Explore the City of Brotherly Love, neighborhood by neighborhood, for a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds - and a whole lot of taste." - Cooking Light (1,746,201 circulation), July 2005

"Philadelphia, well positioned on the East Coast, is traditionally known as a place for history, art and food lovers, but lately has been catering to business travelers as well. The city has embraced a new initiative to offer wireless Internet access throughout downtown, with more than 50 hotspots already established. It's also easily reached from other major U.S. cities, and often has airfare sales and promotions from carriers such as Southwest and US Airways." - USA Today.com, September 14, 2005

"The number of nonprofit arts and cultural groups in Philadelphia and its four surrounding Pennsylvania counties nearly doubled in the last 10 years, rising from 523 in 1995 to 999 in 2004. Their gross receipts: more than $1 billion a year. ... the arts growth clearly has created jobs, attracted artists - and stimulated a buzz beyond Philadelphia. Boston, for one, is envious. 'Philadelphia is eating our lunch in marketing the city,' said Lou Casagrande, president of the Boston Children's Museum. 'Outside the city, Philadelphia has really been making some noise. It has been the talk of Boston.'" - The Philadelphia Inquirer (744,242 circulation),
September 30, 2005

The New York Times came up with a buzz-inducing headline, citing Philadelphia as "The Next Borough." The huge August 14, 2005 story was water-cooler talk for weeks. Here's an excerpt:

"They are the first wave of what could be called Philadelphia's Brooklynization...

"Attracted by a thriving arts and music scene here and a cost of living 37 percent lower than New York's, according to city figures, a significant number of youngish artists, musicians, restaurateurs and designers are leaving New York City and heading down the turnpike for the same reasons they once moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan.

"Many of the things that were once deterring about Philadelphia have also been turned around. The recent lifting of archaic building ordinances and a 10-year tax abatement on new construction means that blighted factories and brownstones are now being converted, many into luxury apartments, and new buildings are going up in place of weed-filled lots. Bring-your-own restaurants, born out of Pennsylvania's Puritan liquor restrictions, have become a charming hallmark of Center City.

"'Philly's decidedly anti-scene, and that appeals to a lot of musicians that move there,' he said. 'They can actually do their own thing.' There are art shows of international renown, like the Salvador Dali; show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the spring, and shows by quirky collectives like Space 1026 in Chinatown, which recently housed an installation made with Cheez-Its. All of which has collided with a peculiar cultural moment in which uncool is the new cool, in which blue-collar scrappiness and a surfeit of fried-meat specialties now seems endearingly kitschy."

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Last year, 2004, marked the fifth consecutive year that overnight leisure visitation increased in Philadelphia and Its CountrysideTM(wysiwg). Overnight visitation now stands at 8.34 million person-trips. From 1997, when GPTMC was formed, to 2004, overnight leisure visitation has increased 49%. For more tourism-related research, visit www.gophila.com/research.

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Online hotel room-night sales at AAA (www.aaa.com) were up 16.5% during the first six months of 2005, compared to the first six months of 2004. The improvement is driven, in part, by a general increase in the online sale of hotel room nights, up 85% across the board during the first six months of 2005. According to AAA, their members purchase 306 million hotel room nights each year.

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In its annual "Best Sports City" issue (August 2005), The Sporting News declared Philadelphia the second best sports city in America, after Boston. The publication also named Philadelphia the best city for both hockey (Welcome back, Flyers) and college basketball (Thank you, Big 5). With the Eagles eyeing Super Bowl XL, 2005-2006 could finally be the time for Philadelphia sports to rise to the top.

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More than 250,000 people took a ride on Phlash in just 13 months of service (May 2004-June 2005), beating initial ridership projections. While the service costs just $1 to ride, the Phlash earned more revenue this year thanks to increased charters, new advertisers and special late hours during the Fourth of July weekend. Tickets were also available at more locations this year, including the Independence Visitor Center, the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel, through www.phillytour.com and, of course, on board the trolley.

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Visitors love to give us feedback about their trips to Philadelphia. Here's what two recent guests had to say:

• "I wanted to let everyone that is thinking of traveling to Philadelphia to just go ahead and book the trip. My wife and I enjoyed every day that we spent in the city. From eating at the City Tavern to touring the museums, it was a memorable trip. I hope to visit Philadelphia again in the near future." - Brian S., Alabaster, Alabama
• "My wife and I just returned from our 'gophila' weekend. We usually go to NYC. Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed your city. We stayed at the Doubletree, and walked all over, took a tour bus, went to the [Jimmy] Buffet concert, visited the [Philadelphia] Museum of Art, and ate like kings. It was wonderful. Thanks for the treat. The gophila.com specials are great and we had a wonderful time." - Mike C., Englishtown, New Jersey

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"To visit Philadelphia is to become fascinated with Franklin - genius, statesman, diplomat, inventor and a guy worth knowing beyond bifocals and stormy kite flying." - The Oregonian (337,707 circulation), August 21, 2005

The countdown is on to Ben Franklin's birthday - now just over three months away. Buzz is increasing about the opening of the major tercentenary exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World at the National Constitution Center opening December 15, 2005. Here are updates on a few of the latest developments:

The Benergy Buzz
Remember the Dalí face all over Philadelphia last spring? This fall and winter, Benjamin Franklin, who celebrates his 300th birthday on January 17, 2006, will be the man about town. A $1.6 million media buy will reach potential visitors in New York, Boston, Harrisburg and Philadelphia through an advertising flight that kicked off in mid-September with an insert in USA Today. The campaign, themed Philly's Got Benergy!™, includes print, broadcast and cable television, radio, billboards and Web advertising.

Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over - With Ben!
Visitors coming to town this winter will be able to take advantage of Ben's Birthday Hotel Package, which includes two tickets to the Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World exhibition at the National Constitution Center and the Little Book of BENefits coupon book. The package runs December 15, 2005 through April 30, 2006 at nearly 40 hotels throughout the region.

Ben's Birthday Desserts
In September, more than 20 Philadelphia restaurants participated in Ben's Birthday Bake-Off at The Franklin Institute Science Museum, where they debuted desserts that will appear on their menus during the run of the Franklin exhibition, December 15, 2005-April 30, 2006. Examples include "The Dogood Apple" at City Tavern, "Franklin Minted" at Lacroix at The Rittenhouse, "Ben Franklin's Lightning Bread Pudding" at Old Original Bookbinder's and "Early to Rise Johnnycakes" at Rx, among others. At the event, pastry chefs also competed for the right to present Franklin with his official birthday cake. Jennifer Macdonald from the Fountain Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia was the winner. Macdonald, who created an exquisite Spiced Penny Pound Cake from the Desk of B. Franklin, competed against chefs from the Chef's Market, Chez Colette at the Sofitel Philadelphia, Max and Me Catering and the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue.

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GPTMC's 2005 Greater Philadelphia Tourism Monitor: The Changing Landscape of Tourism Marketing is hot off the press. This annual research report provides a comprehensive look at the year's tourism facts and figures and GPTMC's strategies for meeting recent marketing challenges. For a copy of the report, visit www.gophila.com/research or contact Deborah Diamond at deborah@gptmc.com.

Philadelphia is one of 12 cities, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angles, that earn a specialized monthly spotlight in Lucky magazine, a Conde Nast publication reaching more than one million devoted shoppers nationwide. Every month, 130,000 readers in the Greater Philadelphia region receive an issue with a special section highlighting the shopping scene in the five-county Philadelphia region.

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Take it from Tom Joyner, the voice of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, which reaches eight million primarily African American listeners nationwide: Companies that try to reach African Americans with the same tactics they use to reach white consumers will fail. "As the African-American market closes in on $1 trillion a year in spending power, Joyner warns that many companies have yet to figure out how to capture it," began a USA Today interview with Joyner on August 15, 2005. The article lists other lessons worth repeating:

• "Don't try to catch African-American consumers with a broad net. Target them unashamedly."
• "Upscale African-Americans also respond to targeted advertising."
• "Remember the strategy Ebony magazine succeeded with decades ago: Use black actors and models."
• "Don't assume everything offends. Sassy black women and black men saying "Whassup" is not the same as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben."
• "Hip-hop is no longer a black thing. It's pop culture, and it's international."

To read the complete article, visit
www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-08-15-joyner_x.htm.

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The Wyndham Philadelphia at Franklin Plaza recently completed a $12 million renovation, making it the first of several area hotels to dramatically upgrade guest rooms and facilities in order to better accommodate the growing number of tourists to the region. The Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, The Rittenhouse Square Bed & Breakfast and the Loews Philadelphia Hotel are getting in on the renovation act too, with more than $35 million in extreme makeovers planned for the upcoming year, including restaurant re-dos, room transformations and technology upgrades.

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On September 4, 2005, Septa welcomed the return of its Route 15 trolley service along Girard Avenue. Hailed as a giant part of the street's ongoing revitalization, the historic trolleys have been refurbished with new interiors, air conditioning and wheelchair access. The trolleys, which service an 8.2 mile stretch that includes the Philadelphia Zoo, are a great new way to get around for visitors and residents alike.

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"I can't remember the last time someone told me a really good story that wasn't related to a bad boss or a clueless boyfriend. That is, until last Saturday. That's when I came upon a sort of story-palooza in the City of Brotherly Love. Yes, this is a Philadelphia story. Actually, it's many Philadelphia stories, dozens of them, unfolding daily throughout 20 square blocks of Philly's historic district. It's all part of Once Upon a Nation, the city's summer-long living history program of costumed Colonial figures, audience-participation movies and lots of period gossip."

And so went the story in the July 20, 2005 edition of The Washington Post. In fact, many national media outlets raved about the newest attraction in and around Independence Mall, which is one of the several reasons that Once Upon A Nation welcomed more than 230,000 visitors during its inaugural season. While the benches are now in storage until next year, Once Upon A Nation's tour season is not quite finished yet. Some of their most popular tours along with a new one Cobwebs and Cobblestones (just in time for Halloween) will run through October 2005. For more information, call (800) 537-7676 or visit www.onceuponanation.org.

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In recent months, Philadelphia has been featured prominently on screens both big and small, thanks in large part to the work of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. "The film office is thrilled to be part of the area's increased international exposure over the past two decades. In that time, we've brought $1 billion in economic development to the region. That's an accomplishment we're very proud of," said Sharon Pinkenson, executive director.

• In late June, Coca Cola launched its brand new Coca Cola Zero product nationwide with a television commercial shot in Philadelphia called "Chilltop." A remake of the classic 1971 "Hilltop" ad, the new spot features Philadelphia's own G-Love singing with friends on a South Philly rooftop. You can watch it here.

• In August, a new sitcom, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, debuted on FX. The comedy, which follows the lives of four 20-somethings, has been very well received by critics, with Variety calling it "invariably clever" and a "laugh-out-loud riot."

• On the big screen, two movies set and primarily filmed in Philadelphia had their premieres at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Although Shadowboxer, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and directed by Philadelphia's own Lee Daniels, does not have a release date yet, In Her Shoes, an adaptation of Philly resident Jennifer Weiner's best seller, debuted nationally on October 7, 2005. According to a recent Philadelphia Daily News article, Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette just plain "loved Philly," including the city's restaurants, walkability and friendliness. Weiner herself is a huge fan of her adopted city and worked with GPTMC to develop a "Weekend of Indulgences" itinerary, now available on
  www.gophila.com/itineraries.

• Shooting now is the Disney film, Invincible, the true story of Vince Papale, who made it onto the Philadelphia Eagles' roster after trying out as a "walk-on" in 1975. In addition, M. Night Shyamalan is in the midst off filming yet another movie in the region, Lady in the Water. Both films will be released next summer.

• Since January 2005, GPTMC has provided more than 80 tapes of b-roll, or raw video footage of Philadelphia, for television shows and films. In July and August alone, GPTMC shared its camera work with Q television network for a biography about gay rights in Philadelphia and the Oprah Winfrey Show for a segment on Bon Jovi's favorite places that aired on September 21, 2005.
  
  

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The following events and exhibitions promise to help drive tourism demand:

• Select Saturdays through October 29, 2005: Philadelphia Neighborhood Tours, various locations, www.gophila.com
• October 1, 2005-January 8, 2006: In Private Hands:
  200 Years of American Painting,
  Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, www.pafa.org
• October 20-30, 2005: Center City Arts & Culture Week, various locations, www.phillyfunguide.com
• October 7, 2005-April 23, 2006: Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies,
  The Franklin Institute Science Museum, www.fi.edu
• October 28-30, 2005: Treasures...From the Silk Road to the Santa Fe Trail, The University of Pennsylvania
  Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, www.museum.upenn.edu
• December 15, 2005-April 30, 2006: Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World, National Constitution Center, www.constitutioncenter.org

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