Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

• The second largest city on the East Coast, Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in the United States, with a population of 1.4 million in Philadelphia and 3.9 million people residing in the five-county region.
• Thanks to founder William Penn, Philadelphia’s Center City follows an easy-to-navigate grid street design. The best ways to get around Center City are by foot, taxi or public transportation. The city’s lush and historic countryside is home to many areas of interest, including Valley Forge National Historical Park, Longwood Gardens, the Brandywine River Museum, the King of Prussia Mall, Chaddsford Winery and more. The farthest

As part of the new With Love, Philadelphia XOXO™ campaign, visitors who book one of the 80 featured packages on gophila.com/withlove will receive a special gift at check-in. The giveaway includes a Philadelphia Privileges coupon book, a Dining Guide that gives hotel guests a pass to exclusive prix-fixe menus around the city, a five-pack of With Love postcards and a With Love pin, along with other brochures, coupons and maps. Soon, it will also include the Official Philly Brag Book, featuring 200 reasons to love the Philadelphia region. And with starting rates ranging from $77 to $415 per night, gophila.com/withlove

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation’s (GPTMC) gophila.com and Travelocity are celebrating a two-year partnership that has generated more than 17,000 reservations, 28,600 room nights and $5.5 million in room revenue. The third year of the partnership marks the debut of a new look and new technology that makes the booking engine on the region’s official tourism Web site even more user friendly with easier-to-view hotel results; more photos, videos and interactive maps; and fewer clicks for hotel reservation completion.

What’s more, the partnership with Travelocity enables GPTMC to have more than 20 booking tools strategically placed throughout gophila.com,

This week the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) kicked off its “Philly Guest of the Day” promotion, a brand-new element of the 10-week, recession-inspired Love campaign. Over the next five weeks, 100 travelers who redeem a Philly Overnight® Hotel Package before March 16, 2009 will be named “Philly Guest of the Day.” These randomly chosen visitors will receive top-notch prizes, including Southwest Airlines tickets and gift certificates for attractions, restaurants and shops like Tiffany & Co., Le Bec-Fin, Positano Coast, The Wilma Theater and others. Additionally, the guests will receive a hotel gift, such as a room upgrade or

Visitors to Philadelphia and The Countryside® can pick from dozens of special hotel packages on gophila.com, but the Philly Overnight® Hotel Package remains a fan favorite. Available year round at more than 30 hotels in the city and region, the offer comes with free hotel parking and a brand-new incentive for travelers. As part of the Love tourism campaign, 100 lucky hotel package buyers who redeem their stay before March 16, 2009 will be randomly named “Philly Guest of the Day” and receive any number of prizes at check-in. Here are the package details:

PACKAGE AVAILABILTY DATES: Check in

Journalists are taking notice of Philadelphia as a hot urban destination, as evidenced by the many accolades bestowed on the city in September and October 2008. Here’s a look at what some national magazines and a Web site had to say:

• Business Facilities chose Philadelphia as one of seven destinations for its “Editors’ Location Picks 2008” list featured in the September issue of the publication. Editors were particularly impressed that the region “has a ‘CEO Council for Growth’ that was so determined to create a high-powered entity to market the region it raised $16 million four years ago to establish

Wedding bells, the Liberty Bell and a three-day Fourth of July weekend has the hospitality industry still celebrating Independence Day. According to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association (GPHA), Philadelphia hotel occupancy soared to 87% on Friday, July 4, and visitors stayed the weekend with occupancy at 81% on Saturday, July 5. This marks the second year in a row for Fourth of July success for Philadelphia hotels. Last year, a city-wide convention propelled Philadelphia hotel occupancy to 82%.

“Our member hotels are crediting this year’s stellar occupancy to a strong mix of

IgoUgo travel blog, a partner of Travelocity, named Philadelphia one of  “10 US Cities with Tourism Sites to See” this month. The trip planning Web site called gophila.com, Greater Philadelphia’s official tourism Web site, “undeniably fresh” and “full of multimedia options” and went on to say, “But besides being up-to-date, informative, and easy to use … it’s just plain fun.”

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) announced a $2 million summer marketing campaign to promote Philadelphia and The Countryside® to travelers seeking history, fun and affordability. On June 1, the tourism organization will debut new Philly’s More Fun™ and Historic Philadelphia advertising campaigns, emphasizing a variety of summer experiences and value-driven hotel packages.

“With gas prices taking a bite out of visitors’ discretionary income, we want to send the message that Philadelphia is an exciting, accessible destination that’s also affordable,” said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, GPTMC. “And once in town, visitors can easily get around on foot or

The Philly Like A Local hotel package, one component of a program designed to provide the real deal from real Philadelphians on eating, drinking, music and culture, proved to be a success in year one, generating 1,332 room nights in its first 10 months and an estimated income of $475,000 for participating hotels. The package will be available for a second year at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, the Loews Philadelphia, Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, The Rittenhouse Hotel, The Hilton Inn at Penn and the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, and it will include a newly compiled all-Philly music CD. The hotel

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) today announced what’s new with uwishunu® (as in "you wish you knew"), including new advertising creative, three new Web TV series, an enhanced Philly Like A Local hotel package and additional partnerships. Funded by the City of Philadelphia, uwishunu is a $5 million tourism campaign in which "in the know" residents serve as the city’s storytellers and evangelists for their neighborhoods in an effort to woo tech-savvy tourists seeking fun.

"This is just the beginning for uwishunu," said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, GPTMC. "We are kicking off the new year—or what