Greater Philadelphia Tourism 2012: A Report to the Region

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Online & In Charge2011 brought a new mobile site, 6.5 million web visits, 15 web awardsand a first-of-its-kind partnership with a buzzed-about social media site.We continued the momentum in the first half of 2012, running a month-long Facebook contest,launching a 101-day-long video series and hitting 200,000 (and counting) social media fans and followers.visitphilly.com and uwishunu.comThe official visitor site for Greater Philadelphia and its what’s-happening-now blog are Philadelphia’s mostimportant brand and image builders. GPTMC’s partners, including the Independence Visitor Center and theCity of Philadelphia, direct people to visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com because they represent the entireregion through written content, compelling photos, fun videos, news updates and event-packed calendars.Potential visitors use the websites to plan their trips, while locals use them to plan their weekends. For thesereasons, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com remain GPTMC’s calls to action for everything we do.Philly 101: In March 2012, uwishunu.com launched Philly 101, a dailyvideo series starring 101 residents who shared their Philadelphia tipsand insights (ones that “you wish you knew”) in about 60 seconds.Bill Covaleski, founder and CEO of Victory Brewing Company, ravedabout the city’s jazz scene; Top Chef winner Kevin Sbraga got revvedup about the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum; and TheRoots’ Black Thought led viewers down South Street. We distributedthe videos on our own social media sites, and the videos’ stars andfeatured picks shared them with their networks. All of the videos areposted on uwishunu.com/philly101.Significant Growth:• In 2011, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com witnessed a record-breakingyear in web traffic, with 6.5 million visits, up 51% from 2010.• uwishunu.com welcomed a record two million visits—that’s onemillion more visits than in 2010.Annual Visits(in millions)7654321GPTMC Web Traffic, 2007–2011Total visitsuwishunu.comvisitphilly.com3.10 mil380,0002.72 mil3.21 mil+3%400,0002.81 mil4.09 mil+28%670,0003.42 mil4.32 mil+6%1.06 mil3.26 mil6.54 mil+51%2.06 mil4.48 milBig-Name Endorsements: GPTMCpartnered with a couple of web giants toexpand its online distribution.• In 2011, Google upgraded GPTMCto a Pro-level Google AdWordsgrant. The program provides Googlesearch ads at no cost to select nonprofits,and it generates around75,000 clicks to our web propertieseach month.• Media giant Comcast asked us tolend our expert content to its Phillyin Focus, the local arm of Comcast’sProject Open Voice. The partnershipprovides great programmingfor the Philly in Focus website andOn Demand channel, and it helpsGPTMC spread our message andalign ourselves with trusted outlets.Rewarding Work: Last year alsobrought 15 awards for GPTMC’s onlinepowerhouses. visitphilly.com anduwishunu.com received national andinternational honors for website designand marketing, and uwishunu.comenjoyed a local people’s choice nod.Extending the online praise,philly360.com took home a digitalmarketing award.020072008 2009 2010 201112 Greater Philadelphia Tourism 2012: A Report to the Region
Socially InclinedGPTMC recognized the value of social media early on: We started with a blog, got social with Twitter andFacebook, checked into Foursquare, ate up Foodspotting and, most recently, embraced Pinterest. Gone arethe days of needing to explain why we invest in these tactics. We’ve proven that our social media strategyturns GPTMC’s more than 200,000 followers and fans into Philadelphia ambassadors and tourists.A Three-Way Street: GPTMC’s social mediaprogram benefits Philadelphia, our partnersand our fans and followers. Through the29 Nights of Dates Facebook contest, PictureYourself in Philadelphia photo-sharingevents, made-for-social media love letters andother social media-driven promotions, weengage with our fans, providing them withvalue through a fun activity or entertaininglove letter, while touting Philadelphia and itsattractions, restaurants, nightlife, sports andevents. Our fans discover tons of reasons tovisit, and when they come, they patronizeour partner organizations. Most importantly,they enjoy their Philadelphia experience—and become ambassadors for the city.Leading the Industry: People have takennotice of GPTMC’s social media expertise.We’ve showcased our work nationally andregionally, presenting at BlogWorld & NewMedia Expo and DMO Mojo. Plus, we sharedour knowledge with our partners whenGPTMC and the Greater Philadelphia HotelAssociation hosted a social media workshopfor Philadelphia hotels.A Recipe for Success: Continuing GPTMC’shistory of staying ahead of the social mediacurve, we identified Foodspotting as the nextbig social media platform. GPTMC wantedto further solidify Philadelphia’s status as aculinary destination, and the relatively youngFoodspotting wanted to show its marketingstrength by partnering with a foodie city.It was the perfect pairing. By May 2011,Philadelphia became the first destination tolaunch such a major Foodspotting programwith a branded channel and Foodspotting’sfull marketing support. Foodspotting nowuses Philadelphia as a case study, andGPTMC showed its innovation, promotingone of our time-tested assets in a new way.When GPTMC partnered with Foodspotting, Philadelphia joined the likes of Anthony Bourdain andTravel + Leisure—other brands that recognized the power of the social food platform and got in early.The Art of Collaboration13
Page 1 and 2: Greater Philadelphia Tourism 2012:
Page 3 and 4: Executive MessageThe theme of this
Page 5 and 6: Team Tourism2012 Board of Directors
Page 7 and 8: Tourism is a growth industry.Travel
Page 10 and 11: Strategic PlanIn addition to markin
Page 14 and 15: Marketing CampaignsWith Love, Phila
Page 16 and 17: With Art PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia i
Page 18 and 19: Philly 360° ®Our Philly 360°® c
Page 20 and 21: Just the Stats: Visitors, Hotels &
Page 22 and 23: Hotel PerformancePhiladelphia’s h
Page 24 and 25: According to the PressNational Geog
Page 27 and 28: GPTMC’s ToolkitAs this report dem

Greater Philadelphia Tourism 2012: A Report to the Region

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