THE ‘PEOPLE’S PACKAGE’ SETS NEW YEAR’S EVE RECORD
New Year’s Eve Package Nearly Triples Last Year’s Sales

PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 2003 - The Philadelphia New Year’s Eve Hotel Package – giving visitors special access to fireworks and Mummers – sold 1,200 rooms (housing 2,591 people) for its December 31 overnight stay.  An astounding 500 of these packages were booked on December 30, one day before New Year’s Eve.  Last year, the package booked 529 rooms and was considered a great success.  Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) created the New Year’s Eve package in 2001. 

Why was the overnight stay so popular?  “It was truly a ‘people’s package,’” says Meryl Levitz, President and CEO of GPTMC.  “The price was right and the product was terrific!  We put Philadelphia’s best New Year’s traditions – fireworks and the Mummers into one hassle-free, reasonably-priced unique package.” Rates ranged from $119 to $199.  Package participants were identified by a silver and red laminated credential, which was spotted by restaurateurs and hotel general managers all over Center City.  An estimated 60 percent of package participants came from the five county region; Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. 

An aggressive advertising and PR campaign in the days before New Year’s Eve generated last-minute bookings.  The New Year’s Eve Hotel Package was available at 20 hotels and entitled guests to roundtrip transportation to and from the Penn’s Landing fireworks, VIP viewing for the fireworks aboard the Battleship New Jersey, two tickets to the Fancy Brigade Finale and Mummers Fest, VIP seating at the Mummers New Year’s Day Parade and a free gift upon hotel check in. 

The 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 the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

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

January 2003

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