Press Release

SLEEP LIKE A KING IN PHILADELPHIA
Hotel Package Offers Two Tickets To Tut Any Time

PHILADELPHIA, February 5, 2007 - Last chance, last chance! That thought will run through a million minds as people from all 50 states make travel plans to Philadelphia to see Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, presented by Mellon Financial Corporation. And, ticketing for out-of-towners couldn’t be easier. Two un-timed, VIP tickets come with every booking of the King Tut Hotel Package. (That means visitors can see the show at anytime during exhibition hours.) Philly is the final (and only East Coast) stop of the pharaoh’s current North American tour. The Franklin Institute will host the blockbuster show, on view February 3 through September 30, 2007.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age
of the Pharaohs

Photo courtesy of National Geographic Traveler

The Centerpiece Exhibition:
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs includes more than 130 treasures belonging to King Tut and his royal relatives. Of the 130 pieces on view, 50 of the artifacts have been excavated from Tut’s tomb, including his royal diadem—the gold crown discovered encircling the head of the king’s mummified body that he likely wore while living—and one of the gold and inlaid canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs. Only 11 of the pieces were in the Treasures of Tutankhamun seven-city tour in the 1970s. Individual tickets are available at 1 (877) TUT-TKTS or www.fi.edu. The museum is extending hours from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to accommodate the million visitors expected to attend.

Tut Hotel Package:
The King Tut Hotel Package is available at 15 hotels, beginning at $189. All packages include two un-timed VIP tickets to the Tut exhibition, and, in some cases, the simultaneous Amarna, Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. VIP ticket holders check in at a special desk at the Franklin Institute. Hotels in the official package are: Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Crowne Plaza Center City, Doubletree Philadelphia, Embassy Suites Center City, Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, Hilton Inn at Penn, Loews Philadelphia, Marriott Downtown, Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City, The Rittenhouse Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center, Sheraton Society Hill and Westin Philadelphia. Package information is available at www.gophila.com/tut. Rooms are bookable directly though each hotel.

Go Golden:
Philadelphia museums and businesses will “Go Golden” during Tut’s eight-month stay in Philadelphia. Visit www.gophila.com/tut for extensive listings. Highlights include:

• Amarna, Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun and “Year of Egypt” programming at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The exhibition, named for the city of Tutankhamun’s childhood, offers a rare look at the meteoric rise and fall of this unique royal city during one of Egypt’s most intriguing times, and runs now through October 2007. Those wishing to delve into all-things Egyptian can take advantage of a year’s worth of lectures, Hollywood on the Nile films and tours of the museum’s permanent Egypt collections.
• Rescue Rittenhouse Spa Lounge is eager to indulge patrons with its new Cleopatra Rescue Treatment, designed especially for Philadelphia’s Egyptian festivities. Long honored for her beauty and early use of makeup, Cleopatra’s modern-day treatment infuses her favorite ingredients—milk and honey—into a head-to-toe facial, exfoliation and face and scalp massage, followed by a purifying and cleansing mask.
• Pomegranates, figs, almonds, dates and Goldschlager flakes are among the ingredients that will Tut-up the menus and drink lists of dozens of Philadelphia area restaurants, bars and lounges.

A great way to take in all of Center City Philadelphia’s Tut-inspired offerings (many are still in the works) is to ride the Tut Trolley, an inexpensive shuttle service that will carry visitors between the Independence Visitor Center, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The Franklin Institute and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

On The Hunt For Tut:
In late spring, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation will launch a “King Tut Treasure Trail,” available at www.geocaching.com. Visitors can use a Global Positioning System—or their own head and a simple brochure—to discover Egyptian-themed sites (and prizes) around the city.

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. 

Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery. On the pressroom, you can also subscribe to RSS feeds to receive updates on topics that are specifically of interest to you: What’s New, Dining, Events, Seasonal Travel, Hotel Packages and Tourism Research.

CONTACT:

Cara Schneider, GPTMC
(215) 599-0789, cara@gptmc.com

Related RSS Feeds

Topic	XML Feeds
What's New This feed will be updated whenever any new content is added to Gophila.com’s Press Room. It includes all topics.