TV AD FOR GAY TRAVEL TO PHILADELPHIA GOES NATIONAL
Tourism Office And Orbitz Sign Unprecedented Advertising Partnership

Philadelphia, June 2, 2005 — Philadelphia, the first destination to create a television commercial for the gay traveler, and Orbitz, a leading online travel company, have signed an unprecedented advertising partnership to reach gay travelers. The effort to promote visitation to Philadelphia and Its Countryside™ includes national cable television spots on LOGO, a new gay-targeted channel developed by MTV Networks and sponsored by Orbitz, which launches on June 30, 2005. In addition, the agreement includes advertising in New York, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC on Comcast, Time Warner and RCN cable networks.

The partnership with Orbitz is one component of Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation’s (GPTMC) three-year, $1 million gay tourism campaign, Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay™. The deal calls for GPTMC’s award-winning television spot, “Penn Pals,” to include a call-to-action for viewers to visit a gay travel microsite created by Orbitz (www.orbitz.com/gaytravel), which features gay-friendly travel deals to Philadelphia that were developed by the tourism office.

In addition, the partnership includes a co-branded print advertisement that will appear in gay newspapers, including Bay Windows in New England, the New York Blade and the Washington Blade. The ad features Betsy Ross sewing a rainbow flag.

“This innovative partnership opens up new media channels for us to promote overnight visitation from gay travelers, who spend $54 billion on travel each year,” said Meryl Levitz, GPTMC president and CEO. “Philadelphia is gay-friendly, and like our other niche marketing efforts, the gay campaign focuses on Philadelphia’s primary attractions, while highlighting activities of special interest to this specific group.”

“We know that gay and lesbian travelers represent some of our best customers,” said Mitch Truwitt, president and CEO of Orbitz. “Partnering with destinations like Philadelphia is another example of how Orbitz makes it fast and easy to find gay-friendly travel options.”

Orbitz is a leading online travel company that enables travelers to search for and purchase a broad array of travel products, including airline tickets, lodging, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Since launching its Web site, www.orbitz.com, to the general public in June 2001, Orbitz has become the third largest online travel site based on gross travel bookings. On Orbitz, consumers can search more than 455 airlines, tens of thousands of lodging properties worldwide and 22 car rental companies. Orbitz was acquired by Cendant’s Travel Distribution Services division in November 2004, and is part of the Consumer Travel Americas group.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) builds the region’s economy and image through destination marketing to increase the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county region. 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

2005

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