Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

The Philadelphia region experienced one of its strongest summers to date in 2007, according to officials at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) and the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association (GPHA). Philadelphia was in high demand this summer for three reasons: there was plenty to do here, travelers chose Philadelphia over other destinations for fun and for conventions, and Philadelphia hotel prices are the best value among East Coast cities.
 

Heads In Beds:
The Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association is reporting a strong summer for hotels in Center City and throughout the region. According to the latest report by PKF Consulting:

• The occupancy rate at Center City hotels this summer was 83%, up 5% from last summer. Nearly every night of the week was busy for hotels, including Sunday. The toughest nights to find a room were Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Throughout the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania region, the hotel occupancy rate was 78% this summer, a 1% increase over last summer.
• While the average daily rate at Center City hotels increased this summer by 8% compared to last summer, Philadelphia was still a better value than New York, Boston and Washington D.C. Center City hotels reported an average daily rate of $166 this summer, lower than the downtown areas in New York ($281), Washington D.C. ($190) and Boston ($208).

Why Leisure Visitors Came:
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) said leisure travelers account for 75% of all visitors to the Philadelphia region. The Philadelphia region has experienced a 63% increase in overnight leisure tourism since 1997. Those who visited for fun this summer had plenty to see and do. Summer highlights:

• GPTMC had several tourism advertising campaigns running this summer that appealed to many kinds of visitor interests. Philly’s More advertising showcases the city’s vibrant, cosmopolitan side; Boundless Philadelphia™ promotes the region’s vast outdoor activities; uwishunu™ highlights Philadelphia’s unconventional side; and Historic Philadelphia promotes the city’s rich American history.
• On average, 33% of those who stay over in hotels are leisure travelers. Overnight leisure travelers reported spending $899 on accommodations, shopping, dining and entertainment during their two-night stay, according to a summer 2006 GPTMC study of downtown hotel visitors.gophila.com, the region’s official tourism Web site, experienced its highest traffic ever with more than 1.2 million visits in July and August, an increase of more than 30% over the same months in summer 2006.

Visit gophila.com/pressroom for the latest news from Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.

Groups And Conventions Were Big Business:
According to the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB), meetings and conventions account for 40% of the total hotel rooms used in Philadelphia each year, and this summer was no exception. The PCVB continued to attract international and group travel market visitors thanks in part to new marketing programs and outreach into new markets including Asia. Meeting and convention, international and group traveler highlights include:

• Boosting hotel occupancy this summer, three major conventions were held on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day, usually slower periods for hotels. These groups alone filled more than 95,000 hotel rooms and brought an estimated $90 million in economic impact. In total for this summer, PCVB hosted 134,466 attendees who used 246,338 total hotel room nights for an economic impact of nearly $300 million for the region.
• The PCVB also launched new visitor guides in German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, English and Chinese; increased awareness with cooperative advertising and Web promotions, like uwishunu™, on sites such as Expedia.com and Travelocity; and hosted 11 international press trips with more than 25 journalists and tour operators from five Western European countries and Scandinavia.
• In addition, the PCVB debuted 40 new experiential tours to group tour operators, using an Experiential Group Tour brochure and a public relations campaign.

Visit www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel/mediacenter for the latest news from the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Plenty To See And Do In Philly This Summer:
Visitors to the region had hundreds of options for tours, sightseeing, dining, nightlife, museums, attractions and blockbuster exhibitions, including the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition at The Franklin Institute; Wicked, the blockbuster Broadway musical at the Academy of Music; the newly restored Franklin Square in Historic Philadelphia; the Liberty Bell Center, which experienced a 16% average increase in visitation during May, June and July, compared to the same time last year; and Valley Forge National Historical Park, where visitation increased by 22% this summer. For more about the region’s top attractions, visit gophila.com.

Philadelphia had a stellar summer because of the combined efforts of GPTMC, PCVB, the regional convention and visitors bureaus and the staffs of the member hotels.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB), www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel, a private non-profit membership corporation, is the official Tourism Promotion Agency for the City of Philadelphia, and the primary sales and marketing agency for the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The PCVB competes with its counterparts worldwide for convention and tourism business. The organization has departments dedicated to the multicultural, sports, and life sciences markets

Contact(s):

• Eric Cortes, (215) 599-0790