1. New Attractions Planned for Fall 2001: The $255 million Kimmel Center, a soaring, glass-enclosed facility, will encompass a 2,500-seat Concert Hall, 650-seat Recital Theater, and the landmark Academy of Music for resident (and visiting) orchestra, dance and opera companies. Also opening in fall is the $30 million Gateway Visitors Center, a major visitor amenity and portal for tourism to Independence National Historical Park and the greater Philadelphia region.
2. Banking on Tourism: Once banks, Philadelphia’s most spectacular buildings are now hotels: the new 585-room Loews Philadelphia Hotel in the former PSFS (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society) building; the 500-room Courtyard by Marriott in the Market Street National Bank; the neo-classical, domed 331-room Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia Hotel; and the 300-room Hotel Sofitel in the former Philadelphia Stock Exchange Building.
3. Room with a View: The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia and the Loew’s Philadelphia have paired with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to offer a package for Van Gogh: Face to Face, an exhibition of the artist’s portraiture, from October 22 through January 14. For more information, log onto www.gophila.com/packages/
4. Heart of Philadelphia Package: Available all year, the package starts at $99 per person and includes one night’s stay, culture pass for buy-one-get-one-free admission to more than 50 attractions and museums, overnight parking or breakfast, and a free silver Lagos Heart of Philadelphia pendant or $100 gift certificate. Participating hotels include The Comfort Inn ($99), Best Western Center City ($109), Clarion Suites ($129), Omni Hotel at Independence Park ($129), and the new Hotel Sofitel ($199).
5. Exhibitions Coming to the Philadelphia Area in late 2000-2001: A Brandywine Christmas, November 24-January 14, Brandywine River Museum; The Buffalo Soldiers, December 14-January 28, 2001, African American Museum; Sitting Pretty: Photographs from the Marianne More Archive, October 12-February 11 at the Rosenbach Museum and Library; Intimate Worlds: Masterpieces of Indian Painting, March 4-April 21, Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA); Weegee’s Story: From the Berinson Collection, May 22-September 1, Philadelphia Art Alliance; Once We Were Americans: Max Belcher, April 5-September 16, African Amercian Museum; Thomas Eakins, October – December, PMA
6. Events Not to Miss in 2001: First Fridays, an evening open house for art galleries in Old City, the first Friday of each month; 100^th Annual Mummers Parade on New Years Day; American Garden Legacy: Exploring Garden Transformations, January 27-March 4, Welcome Spring, January 27-April 5, and Acres of Spring, April 21-May 25 – all at Longwood Gardens; The Book and the Cook Festival and Fair, a 10-day food extravaganza, pairing noted cookbook authors with top Philadelphia restaurants, from March 23-April 1; Philadelphia Flower Show: Great Gardeners of the World, March 4-11 at Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is a non-profit organization dedicated to generating awareness of and visitation to Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. For more information about travel to Philadelphia visit www.gophila.com or call (888) GO-PHILA.

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Note to Editors: For photographic images of Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside, visit the photo gallery section of www.gophila.com/pressroom.

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