Independence Hall
— Photo by R. Rabena for Visit Philadelphia
VISIT PHILADELPHIA Manifesto
Philadelphia surprises people.
It reveals its multifaceted, captivating personality to them block by block, mural by mural, garden by garden, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Here, 100-year-old cheese shops happily live a few doors down from lauded chef-run restaurants. There’s so much art; it’s inside, outside and on the sides of buildings. The corner bar thrives, and just about everyone is a craft beer enthusiast. Clothing design, building design and park design inspire. Creativity bursts from art galleries, modern dance troupes, street performances, story slams, concerts and DJ parties.
Philadelphians count on festivals for any and all reasons, bike trails for fun and bike lanes for transport and, most importantly, on people just being themselves.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA invites people to … well, visit Philadelphia for fun.
We believe in the power of travel; it shapes a person and expands horizons. Philadelphia delivers on our promise of an urban, main street, foodie, historic, cultural, cool, eye-opening, independent experiences. It’s one destination, five counties, countless things to do.
Philadelphia is our job and our passion. Some may call us Philly freaks, and we’re OK with/proud of that.
We want people to get to know Philadelphia. Smile at our ads; click around our website; watch our videos; follow us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and the rest.
But mostly, we want people to visit Philadelphia over and over again.
And love it like we do.
Chinatown Friendship Gate
— Photo by Visit Philly
Our Work
Who We Are
We’re the region’s official leisure tourism marketing agency.
What We Do
Our mission is to build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive day and overnight visitation and boost the economy.
Plus, we increase the number of visitors who come, the frequency in which they come, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do. These marketing efforts enhance residents’ quality of life and civic pride.
How We Do It
Everything we do — our advertising, communications, website (visitphilly.com), social media, podcast, event and attraction promotion, hotel packages, product development and even playing up Philly’s starring role in pop culture — gives Philadelphia a voice and strengthens the ever-evolving Philadelphia brand.
It’s important that people feel like they know a destination — that’s what makes them want to visit.
Here are some of the ways we achieve our mission.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA Online
The most powerful way we communicate the voice, essence and image of Philadelphia is through our official website,
visitphilly.com
.
The site is a strong call to action that moves people to visit and helps them find the region’s events, hotels, restaurants and attractions.
In 2022, the website had more than
9.3 million visits
. That’s more than
778,000 visits per month
.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA seeks website visitors because we can convert “online visits” into “real-life visitors.” Each web visit is an opportunity for VISIT PHILADELPHIA to improve that person’s impression of Philadelphia, increase their desire to visit and get them to do more things while they’re here.
And to that effect, great content is a conversion machine for
VISIT PHILADELPHIA.
Driving Referrals
Visitphilly.com sent
2.1 million clicks
to our partner websites in 2022.
#VisitPhilly on Social Media
Leveraging the Power of Digital Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Called one of “
Social Media’s Most Innovative Travel Companies
” by
Travel + Leisure
, VISIT PHILADELPHIA takes its social standing seriously. We embraced social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy early on, breaking into the newest and most effective platforms, and we continue to refine our properties.
We now have
seven platforms and
10 accounts
, including:
Advertising
VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s advertising uses creative messaging that engages our key audiences and reaches them where they’re most receptive to our invitations to visit. We rely on research to better understand our audience — and we let that data guide us towards using the right channel at the right time. We enhance our traditional media buys and search-engine marketing with social media advertising and buzz-worthy out-of-home tactics.
Our campaigns showcase Philadelphia’s robust cultural offerings — beyond the obvious — and invite travelers to come and experience the unexpected. It represents shared experiences, spotlights Philly’s rich dining scene and shows off historic icons and exhibits.
Our advertisements echo and embody Greater Philadelphia as a multidimensional, dynamic and diverse destination.
Our first-ever joint destination marketing campaign, done in conjunction with the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, encourages visitors to
“Come for Philadelphia. Stay for Philly.”
The fun, lighthearted campaign puts the city’s confidence and attitude at the forefront as it aims to drive visitation to the region across all travel segments — leisure, business and group — in 2023 and in the lead up to 2026, when the city will host major activities around America250, the FIFA World Cup and the MLB All-Star Game.
The campaign is a call to action for visitors to come for the Philadelphia they expect and to stay for the unexpected gems just waiting to be discovered in Philly. Philadelphia represents the destination’s credentials, and Philly shows off its under-the-radar side.
Communications
Through high-quality content, direct pitches, media events, a Visiting Media Program and strong relationships with journalists, our media relations team places thousands of positive stories each year about Greater Philadelphia in a blend of high-value print, television, websites and blogs. Here’s just a sampling of positive stories about travel to Philadelphia placed by us and our many, many partners recently:
In addition to the aforementioned web, social media, advertising and communications efforts, VISIT PHILADELPHIA has several other initiatives aimed at bringing even more people to the region.
On
Love + Grit
, Visit Philadelphia’s podcast, listeners explore authentic and diverse stories of the city and get an insider’s look at the Philadelphians people should know, the foods they should try and the attractions they should explore.
We run multiple campaigns at any given time — efforts that speak directly to art lovers, urban adventurers and millennials, along with African-American, Latino, LGBTQ+ and Canadian travelers.
For more information on these and all of VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s marketing initiatives, take a few minutes to review our
full 2021 Annual Report
.
— Photo by J. Fusco for Visit Philadelphia
Our Regional Impact
Tourism and hospitality is one of the largest industries in the region and important to the vitality of Greater Philadelphia.
Our marketing efforts enhance the quality of life and provide a sense of pride for residents; stimulate the economy, support local businesses and create jobs.
Visitor Volume
36.2 million visitors
to Greater Philadelphia in 2021.
Visitor Spending
$5.2 billion
in 2021.
Economic Impact
$8.6 billion
in total economic impact from tourism generated in Greater Philadelphia.
That equates to:
$23.6 million every day.
Job Creator
76,700
directly supported across major employment sectors (food and beverage, lodging, transportation, recreation and retail) in 2021.
Revenue Generator
$734 million
in state and local tax revenue generated in 2021.
Bringing Leisure Visitors to Philadelphia
VISIT PHILADELPHIA invites all travelers to visit the region, but our marketing specifically
targets leisure travelers
from America and Canada — those who come to Philadelphia to have fun.
Of the
36.2 million
visitors to the region in 2021, leisure travelers made up
93%
and VISIT PHILADELPHIA has been an integral part of attracting and welcoming them here.
Leisure Travelers Help Drive Recovery Efforts in Center City
Leisure travelers have helped the city’s recovery efforts in the wake of COVID-19.
In 2021, the leisure segment made up approximately
47% of all hotel nights
consumed in Center City Philadelphia.
As expected, the leisure segment led the industry’s recovery and served as a key driver of downtown hotel demand, booking just under a million room nights (914,537).
Friday and Saturday Night Hotel Occupancy Remain Strong Through the Pandemic
Strong weekend occupancy is an indication that a destination has a very strong leisure demand.
In 2021,
Saturday and Friday nights were the two highest occupancy nights of the week
, coming in at 63% and 54% respectively.
2021 marked the 18th consecutive year that Saturday night was the busiest night of the week for Center City Philadelphia hotels.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s 2021 Annual Report
For more information on the importance and impact of the tourism and travel industry in Philadelphia, download VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s full 2021 Annual Report.
The in-house research department at VISIT PHILADELPHIA tracks visitor statistics, measures tourism’s impact on the region and provides insight and tracking for every marketing program VISIT PHILADELPHIA develops. For more information on the research that VISIT PHILADELPHIA does, visit our Research page by clicking the button below.
At VISIT PHILADELPHIA®, it’s our job to invite people — and we mean ALL people — to visit our beloved hometown. When people visit Philadelphia, we at VISIT PHILADELPHIA succeed in achieving our mission to boost the economy and build our region’s image.
But to really achieve success in our mission, our work begins at home—inside the walls of VISIT PHILADELPHIA (or wherever we happen to be working from on any given day).
VISIT PHILADELPHIA maintains momentum by keeping the organization’s values, mission and vision at the forefront at all times. Our values-first mindset means that we are:
Passionate
about our city, our region and our mission. We believe passion drives success. Period.
Trustworthy,
meaning we do what we say we’re going to do, and we do it to the very best of our abilities. Being true to our word tells the people around us that they can count on us.
Inclusive
of the people we invite to visit and the people we employ here (and the diverse perspectives they bring along with them).
Respectful
of one another and of the diverse opinions we hold and share daily.
Collaborative
both internally and externally. That is, after all, when our work shines brightest and our results soar.
Innovative
because that’s the only way we’ll continue to blaze trails. Plus, status quo is just not how we roll around here.
Hospitable
to our coworkers, our stakeholders, our visitors. Always. (We ARE in the tourism and hospitality business, after all.)
VISIT PHILADELPHIA Leadership
Angela Val
President & CEO
Angela Val began her tenure as president and CEO of VISIT PHILADELPHIA in June 2022.
A recognized trailblazer within the tourism and hospitality industry, Val brings more than two decades of destination-marketing experience to the company, playing an impactful role in positioning and elevating Philadelphia as a top-notch tourism destination among local, regional, national and international audiences. Distinctly, Val has played important roles in every major event the City of Philadelphia has hosted since 2000, including the 2000 Republican National Convention, 2015 World Meeting of Families and papal visit, 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and 2017 NFL Draft.
Taking on this role is a homecoming for Val, who spent 17 years of her career with VISIT PHILADELPHIA, contributing to its growth as she climbed the organization’s ranks to chief external affairs officer — a position she left in 2016. From there, she served as deputy executive director of the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee for the DNC and then chief administration officer at the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), where she oversaw government and external affairs while managing the day-to-day operations until June 2021.
Val is currently the chief operating officer at Tempest, an integrated marketing agency helping destination-marketing organizations and convention and visitors bureaus across the country strengthen their local communities. She has also recently concluded her role as the executive director of Ready. Set. Philly!, a yearlong collaborative initiative with the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to reopen and reignite the city’s economy following the pandemic.
Val succeeds the late Jeff Guaracino, who passed away in December 2021, after serving as president and CEO from 2018 until his death.
Senior Vice President of Advancement and External Affairs
Jabari Cherry
Marketing & Tourism Coordinator
Eric Cortes
Senior Director, Social
Liana Dunnell
Social Media Specialist
Jovan Ellis
Digital Content Manager
Farah Farag
Social Media Content & Creative Manager
Connor Fogel
Digital Web Manager
Neil Frauenglass
Chief Marketing Officer
Michael Hanisco
Senior Digital Content Manager
Tameka Love
Assistant Controller
Keith McMenamin
Vice President of IT
Cathy McVey
Senior Vice President of Strategic Integration
Binh Nguyen
Senior Director of Communications
Scarlett
Pennington
IT Assistant
Rob Rabena
Director of Video & Photography
Cindy Ray
Chief Financial Officer
Jake Rhue
Operations Specialist
Sindoor Shah
Design Director
Kyle Stein
Marketing Project Manager
Cassie Tomkins
Senior Director of External Affairs
Dan Wisniewski
Senior Director, Digital Content & Strategy
Andrew Zwarych
Research & Analytics Manager
Board Of Directors
Manuel N. Stamatakis, Chair
Capital Management Enterprises
Rhonda R. Cohen, Esquire, Vice Chair
Robert W. Bogle, Vice Chair
The Philadelphia Tribune
James Adamson
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia
Reginald Archambault
The Rittenhouse Hotel
Darwin Beauvais, Esquire
Obermayer
Anthony J. Conti (Retired)
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Bob Cosgrove
Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square
Matt Dickman
Comcast Corporation
Wendy Hamilton
PENN Entertainment, Inc.
Sheila Hess
City of Philadelphia
Mayor James F. Kenney
City of Philadelphia
Obra Kernodle, IV
American Airlines
Kevin Murnane (Retired)
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Center City
Leslie Richards
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
James D. Schultz
Scientific Games
Tony Sorrentino
University of Pennsylvania
Fred Shabel, Chairman Emeritus
Comcast Spectacor
— Photo by J. Fusco for Visit Philadelphia
Our History
VISIT PHILADELPHIA was founded in 1996 as Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
In 1998, House Bill 2858, Act 174 designated VISIT PHILADELPHIA, then GPTMC, to serve as the official Regional Attractions Marketing Agency.
Be A Part Of Visit Philadelphia
We want to hear from you. And we want you to help us spread the word about Philadelphia.
Contact Us
We want to hear from you. And we want you to help us spread the word about Philadelphia.
Pop over to
this page
to see all of the ways you can connect with us.
