2008 marks year two for Philly's More Holiday Fun, GPTMC's award-winning campaign to promote the region's seasonal experiences. A specialized microsite, gophila.com/holidays, features plenty of ideas for maximizing a holiday trip to Philly without breaking the bank, including 25 gifts under $25, 25 festive experiences for under $25, itineraries, shopping discounts, hotel packages and more. The public relations push focuses on local, regional and national media; and the advertising campaign is running online and in print in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley. Media partners helping to make the campaign a success include CBS 3 and Sportsradio 610 WIP.

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Ever noticed the great shots of Philadelphia during an Eagles game or the city images in the World Series? GPTMC provides raw footage (b-roll) to TV stations for some of those, and our video library keeps getting bigger and better. We completed a two-day helicopter shoot for new high-definition (HD) b-roll. An expensive job, we partnered with the PCVB, Select Greater Philadelphia, Comcast and Liberty Property Trust. We're also mid-way through a bigger HD b-roll project to replace our entire video library.

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GPTMC conducted six focus groups in New York City, New York; Bethesda, Maryland; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during the month of October. In order to shape upcoming advertising campaigns, we wanted to get a sense of how residents of our key markets perceive Philadelphia and figure out what put a destination on a traveler's list of must-see places. We learned that presenting a contemporary picture of a Philadelphia vacation is even more important than emphasizing our traditional icons (such as the Liberty Bell or cheesesteaks) and that our use of popular culture vehicles (Food Network, blogs, etc.) will become a more influential way to reach travelers in the future. For more on GPTMC's research and publications, visit gophila.com/research.

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Every impression or page view that gophila.com receives is a great opportunity for GPTMC to influence a person's desire and likelihood to visit Philadelphia. Thus, one of our main goals is to make sure we direct this traffic effectively toward the most appropriate sections of the site. gophila.com has enjoyed noteworthy success in this regard in 2008—meaning the site is doing its job of getting people to see the messages we want them to see. Here's a look:

• Page views to Halloween content on gophila.com increased 482% in 2008 over 2007 (September-October 2008 versus same time 2007).
• Page views to Phillies content was up 2,070% (September-October 2008 versus same time 2007).
• Thanksgiving Day Parade traffic increased 23% (November 2008 versus same time 2007).
• Page views to holiday content is up 133% (September-December 2008 versus same time 2007).

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GPTMC and The Franklin Institute Science Museum are teaming up to promote, Galileo, The Medici and The Age of Astronomy, an exhibition exploring the impact of Galileo and the Medicis on modern-day science, making its exclusive world appearance in Philadelphia, April 4 through September 7, 2009. GPTMC received a $250,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to market the show, the region-wide happenings that go along with it and overnight hotel stays. As part of the long-lead PR push, we took media guests from major magazines and newspapers and KYW radio to Florence, Italy in November 2008 to preview the exhibition artifacts, including Galileo's original telescope. fi.edu

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GPTMC and Center City District are teaming up with the Philadelphia Police Department to ensure that the city's police officers are informed tourism ambassadors. In January, officers will receive a compact guide filled with information about popular tourist attractions, tours, neighborhoods, public transportation, restrooms and more. And in 2009, new recruits will take what is essentially Philly Tourism 101 as part of their Police Academy curriculum.

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HearPhilly, the groundbreaking online radio station project produced by KYW Newsradio in conjunction with GPTMC, is set for another growth spurt thanks to an alliance with Yahoo. CBS Radio, KYW's parent, will provide much of the online radio content for Yahoo, as it now does for AOL, making the broadcast easily available to both AOL and Yahoo users interested in things to do and see in the region. HearPhilly's launch on AOL Radio in March helped increase traffic ten-fold. hearphilly.com

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With the changing of the leaves came several awards and accolades that made GPTMC proud. Here's a look:

• Popular trade publication PR News recognized GPTMC with a NonProfit PR Award for uwishunu.com in the blog category. We also received an honorable mention in the PR event category for The Real-Life Wedding of Benjamin Franklin & Betsy Ross.
• The International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA) awarded gophila.com a Silver Davey Award in the travel category, and Travel Weekly recognized gophila.com with a 2008 Silver Magellan Award in the Overall Destinations/City category.
• phillyburbs.com listed uwishunu.com in its list of the "Ten best Philadelphia websites (besides phillyBurbs)."
• It might not be an award, but it sure felt special when NASA used a GPTMC photograph of the Philadelphia skyline as backdrop during a pre-mission television interview, which ran for one month. Another flattering request came from the Social Security Administration, using our photos for a video that will encourage staff to relocate to Philadelphia where positions are currently available.

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• "Why Visit Philly? If you can't find a room in Washington for the Inauguration on Jan. 20, try Philadelphia instead — just two hours away by train or three by car. The city's tourism board is offering a 'Philly Overnight' hotel package: at more than 30 participating hotels, you'll get free parking with a two-night stay, plus a Macy's savings pass." – time.com (circulation: 4,816,767), December 12, 2008
• "Philly's reputation as a cheaper version of New York is well deserved, and not just because of its cut-rate artists' lofts and liberal BYOB policies. The city's cheap-dining scene has also gotten awfully New York-y lately." – New York (circulation: 433,289), November 3, 2008
• "But if even an NYC borough is out of the question, how about Philly? The city offers concerts, parties, fireworks and the annual New Year's Day Mummers Parade and Fancy Brigades Finale to ring in '09. The tourism office has lots of hotel package deals, from luxury high-rises to chichi boutique properties, and you can cap off New Year's Eve at a hot Center City restaurant." – The Washington Post (circulation: 622,714), December 14, 2008
• "The fluidity between the old and the new, the past and the present, is what makes a trip to the Please Touch Museum meaningful for all ages. Between the building, the exhibits and the Great Hall's contemporary monument, the museum is a conglomeration both in its settings and its experience." – The Record (circulation: 32,171), October 26, 2008
• "The two-night Philly Overnight package includes a teddy bear at check-in and free parking at nearly three dozen hotels ranging in cost from $170 (Best Western City Center) to $578 (Ritz-Carlton). Two nights' lodging at the waterfront Hyatt at Penn's Landing is $359. Book at gophila.com." — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (circulation: 274,999), October 19, 2008
• "Put Philadelphia on your travel calendar this year. It is a unique, friendly, and diverse destination that values you and your family." – Out & About Magazine (circulation: 26,000), November 1, 2008
• "For a spectacular view of the cityscape, the official visitor site for Greater Philadelphia recommends the Belmont Plateau." – The New York Times (circulation: 1,000,665), November 21, 2008
• "For a major city (America's fifth biggest, though Phoenix is on the verge of overtaking us) prices are surprisingly low. Some of the best restaurants can be enjoyed without breaking the bank, and theater costs a fraction of what it does in other cities. It's also as gay-friendly a city as you can imagine, and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) has gone out of its way to attract GLBT visitors." – Passport (circulation: 73,800), November 2008
• "The City of Brotherly Love becomes even more loving during the holiday season when age-old traditions–and near freezing weather–brings everyone a little closer. The birthplace of our country also offers guests historic sights, delicious food and maybe a little of the white stuff to make your trip merry and bright. – The South (circulation: 20,000), December 2008/January 2009
• "The time, effort and money spent on detailed research of the gay tourism market paid off. Within 18 months, a second study showed that spending by gay visitors to the city [Philadelphia] had soared by 30 percent, meaning that every dollar spent on the campaign had helped to generate $153 in visitor spending." – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (circulation: 203,588), October 12, 2008
• "Edgy areas such as the Northern Liberties and, unusually, the historic Old City, jump with just the right combination of independent coffee shops, microbrew pubs and boutique stores to maintain a hipster population. Property is cheaper than in New York, and many artists and musicians are moving out of the Big Apple and coming here instead." – The Observer (circulation: 73,800), November 2, 2008
• "But before the current presidential election ends, you and your children should head for the National Constitution Center's new exhibit called 'Headed to the White House.' The experience on Philadelphia's Independence Mall and within sight of Independence Hall will re-boot your 'old' brain and help your kids create a picture in their minds of the electoral process that goes well beyond Internet news and brief blurbs on TV news programs." – The Morning Call (circulation: 101,432), October 13, 2008
• "A first-time visit to Philadelphia revolves around key attractions such as Independence Hall, Liberty Bell Center and the National Constitution Center. When people pay a second visit or have more time to stay, a different spectrum of attractions moves into focus. Art museums, botanical gardens, shopping districts and other points of interest expand an itinerary beyond the Old City's Independence Mall. An extra day can be spent along the breezy promenade of Penn's Landing, a park on the Delaware River that features the Independence Seaport Museum." – Scripps Howard News Service (401,842 Nielsen Net Rating), October 14, 2008

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