Drawing more leisure travelers

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, May, 2006 by Tom Belden

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. is throwing a 10th anniversary party for itself today to brag about what it has achieved and reveal what it plans as an encore.

The 500 guests invited to the celebration at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue will get a preview of two new TV commercials to be aired this summer. One spot plays on the familiar "Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over" theme, and the second invites visitors to get outdoors and hike, bike, skate and paddle across the region.

The marketing organization will present data that it says show the strides Philadelphia has made over the last decade to draw leisure travelers who stay overnight, spending money in hotels, restaurants, museums, stores and other attractions.

The number of overnight leisure visitors in the five-county Pennsylvania portion of the region increased 55 percent, from 5.7 million in 1997 to 8.9 ...