Press Release

TUT ROAD SHOW TAKES TO THE STREETS OF PHILLY
Special Trolley Offers Visitors An Easy, Affordable Ride To Tut Exhibitions

PHILADELPHIA, January 31, 2007 - That 3,347-year-old boy king sure gets around! King Tut’s image, peering off the back of a passenger trolley, will be a new fixture on Philadelphia streets as the Tut Trolley launches on February 3, 2007, just in time for the opening of the Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition, presented by Mellon Financial Corporation, at The Franklin Institute. Funded by the city’s hotels, the trolley will offer visitors a convenient ride between key tourist landmarks (Independence Visitor Center, the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Embassy Suites Hotel) and venues hosting Egypt-related exhibitions, including The Franklin Institute and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, also known as the Penn Museum.

Tut Trolley

Photo courtesy of The Franklin Institute

A collaboration between The Franklin Institute and Philadelphia Trolley Works, the Tut Trolley encourages Egypt-o-philes to pair a visit to The Franklin Institute with a stop at the Penn Museum, which draws upon its astonishing Egyptian collection for the special exhibition, Amarna, Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun. The show spotlights the royal city of Tutankhamun’s childhood and is curated by the same Egyptologist who created the touring Tut exhibition, Dr. David Silverman. A combination ticket to Tut and Amarna is available at The Franklin Institute or by calling for 1 (888) 600-KTUT. The joint ticket ranges from $21.50 to $38.50.

Tut Trolley Details:

• The trolley costs $2 per person, per ride (one way).
• The trolley runs hourly, seven days a week, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., February 3-September 30, coinciding with the dates of the Tut exhibition at The Franklin Institute.
• Trolley A runs from the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Market Street between 11th & 12th Streets) through Center City to The Franklin Institute (20th & Winter Streets) to the Penn Museum (33rd & Spruce Streets).
• Trolley B runs from the Independence Visitor Center (6th & Market Streets), up Arch Street to The Franklin Institute.
• Select hotels will offer Tut Trolley tickets as part of their King Tut Hotel Package.
• A downloadable Tut Trolley schedule is available at gophila.com/tut.

Hotel Package Offers:
Individual hotels are offering special King Tut-inspired packages, enabling visitors to stay overnight and take in all that Philadelphia has to offer. The Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia and Doubletree Philadelphia are among 15 hotels selling a package that includes untimed, undated, VIP tickets to the exhibition. The Hilton Inn at Penn’s package offers two tickets to both the Tut and Amarna exhibitions. Rooms are bookable by calling the hotel directly. For a full list of participating hotels, visit www.gophila.com/tut.

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. 

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CONTACT:

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

Lynda Bramble, The Franklin Institute
(215) 448-1176, lbramble@fi.edu

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