MOVE OVER ROCKY! PHILADELPHIA’S IMAGE GETS
A HUGE BOOST IN SEPTEMBER’S TRAVEL + LEISURE
Nine-Page Article Details The Writer’s Love Affair With The City

PHILADELPHIA, August 27, 2003 – Philadelphia has arrived. In the September issue of Travel + Leisure (circulation 962,770 people), on newsstands today, a nine-page article titled "The Philadelphia Experiment" by Francine Maroukian tells their readers where to dine, shop, stay and why they should visit the city now. The editorial coverage is valued at $1 million by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), whose public relations staff and others worked with the writer on the story.

"This story is a terrific boost to the city's image and a great example of how Philadelphia has been broadening our story – from one just about history to one that’s about living with history, dining and enjoying a sophisticated urban environment," says Meryl Levitz, president & CEO, GPTMC. "We expect the readers of Travel +Leisure to come to Philadelphia in great numbers as a result."

Maroukian, a former New Yorker who now lives in Philadelphia, explains how she fell in love with the city during her frequent visits to friends living here. In addition to the city's livability, the writer waxes on about the incomparable history, Philadelphia’s propensity for restoring rather than destroying its built environment and the breadth and depth of the ever-growing restaurant scene, including mentions of Fork and Tangerine restaurants and The Reading Terminal Market.

She writes, "We walked to dinner along the bricked side streets of Society Hill – swirling leaves, people wandering home, the steady glow from electric candles set in the middle of town-house windows. I could have ordered it from Central Casting: one gorgeous town, coming up."

This year, more than 871 news stories have appeared about Philadelphia. GPTMC 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 gophila.com or call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676. For information about arts and cultural attractions in the region, visit the Philadelphia CultureFiles at gophila.com.

Note to Editors: For story angles and photographic images of Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside, visit gophila.com/pressroom.  

August 2003

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