Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

Philly locals will be the centerpiece of new creative developed for the Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay® tourism marketing campaign, giving it a next-generation appeal. The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and Southwest Airlines will debut "We Your People" in national advertising placements and in a five-city city promotional push beginning March 14, 2008. The groundbreaking gay tourism campaign originally launched in 2003 with the iconic images of Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross.

The first "We Your People" ad features local entrepreneur Matthew Izzo, owner of Matthew Izzo Boutiques. He will be joined by more than a dozen other Philadelphia-area residents who have helped to make the region a premier gay travel destination. Selected participants will be featured in online and print advertising; on gophila.com/gay; on southwest.com/gaytravel; in press releases; in 40,000 Where magazine gay-friendly guides; in direct-to-consumer promotions, postcards and electronic consumer newsletters; and in program book ads at national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) events.

Advertising for the "We Your People" campaign, created by Moon City in New York, will appear first in local gay newspapers in Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Pittsburgh and Columbus, and then in full-page ads in national gay magazines this spring. GPTMC and Southwest Airlines are simultaneously launching "We Your People" through a series of direct-to-gay consumer promotions in Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Palm Springs.

GPTMC will preview the campaign on March 12, 2008, in New York at the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association’s 13th annual New York Benefit at The New York Times building.Locals will celebrate the launch of "We Your People" at the March meeting of the Greater Philadelphia Professional Networking event, an organization of local GLBT professionals.

"Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross were prefect symbols for the Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay® campaign because they are both so identifiable with Philadelphia," said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, GPTMC. "Now we’re introducing travelers to the people who are making history today in our region."

Aside from Izzo, the first locals to appear in "We Your People" are:

• Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, owners of Lolita, Bindi, Grocery and Open House

• Stephen Carlino and Dennis Fee, owners, Tavern on Camac

• Charlie Potje, owner, Charlie Salon

• Mark Segal, journalist/publisher/gay pioneer, Philadelphia Gay News

• Tami Sortman, president, Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, and her partner Melissa Kolczynski, actress and personal fitness instructor

• Anh Dang, president, Philadelphia GLBT Swim Club

• RJ Thornburg and Warren Muller, owners, bahdeebahdu gallery

• Michael Sparano and Rocco Giancaterino, owners, Salon Royale Court

Additional gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight locals will be recruited to join in the gay tourism marketing campaign. No one who participates in the campaign will be a paid or professional model.

"It is the people you meet on vacation who help make a destination feel warm, welcoming and appealing," said Sharon Rossi, vice president, tourism advertising, GPTMC. "The phrase ‘We Your People’ signals the inclusiveness that people feel in Philadelphia, and it extends our ‘get your history straight’ theme because it was here that the framers penned ‘We The People,’ the first three words in the U.S. Constitution."

In June 2007, GPTMC and Southwest Airlines teamed up on a $125,000 marketing partnership designed to increase air travel and overnight visits to Philadelphia by gay and lesbian travelers. The partnership includes co-branded advertising, direct-to-consumer promotions and online marketing. In addition, Southwest is making considerable charitable marketing contributions to GLBT organizations in Philadelphia.

"We think the ‘We Your People’ concept communicates a sense of warmth, friendliness and individual pride about Philadelphia" said Jena Atchison, segment marketing manager, Southwest Airlines. "These values perfectly match our commitment to our customers and to the GLBT community."

Since its debut, the Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay® campaign has won awards from the Travel Industry Association of America, PR Week, the Public Relations Society of America, the Association of National Advertisers and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International. Gay travelers now rank Philadelphia among the top 20 gay-friendly destinations worldwide, according to two independent research studies conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America/Harris Interactive and by Community Marketing Inc.

For more information about traveling to Philadelphia, visit gophila.com/gay. To book airline reservations, visit southwest.com/gaytravel.

Southwest Airlines was named in BusinessWeek magazine’s first ever list of "Customer Service Champs." The BusinessWeek list, which appeared in the March 5, 2007, issue, ranks the best providers of Customer Service, and digs into the techniques, strategies and tools they use to deliver great service. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation’s largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned according to the latest release from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, currently serves 63 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 33,000 employees nationwide.

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/gay or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

Contact(s):

• Jeff Guaracino, (215) 599-2290