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Independence Hall — Photo by R. Rabena for Visit Philadelphia
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
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.
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.
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:
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.
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 2023 Annual Report.
— Photo by J. Fusco for Visit Philadelphia
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.
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 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).
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 2023 Annual Report
For more information on the importance and impact of the tourism and travel industry in Philadelphia, download VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s full 2023 Annual Report.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s Research
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.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA’S RESEARCH PAGE
— Photo by Visit Philadelphia
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:
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.
Before starting at VISIT PHILADELPHIA, Val was 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 had 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.
To read Angela Val’s full bio, click the button below.
Won Jin An
Digital Marketing Specialist
Jasmine Armstrong
Senior Director of Hospitality Initiatives
Ajene Atkins
Controller
Ethan Blades
Senior Director of Marketing
Trino Boix
Chief Operating Officer
Daecia Borgia
Visitor Appeal Manager
Sheryl Brown
Executive Assistant
Alethia Calbeck
Chief Communications Officer
Jessica Calter
Senior Vice President of Advancement and External Affairs
Sabrina Carter
Digital Content Manager
Jabari Cherry
Social Media Engagement Specialist
Eric Cortes
Senior Director, Social
Hope Daluisio
Photo & Video Specialist
Gianna DiAddezio
Graphic Designer
Alex Donaruma
Marketing Project Manager
Liana Dunnell
Social Media Specialist
Jovan Ellis
Farah Farag
Social Media Content & Creative Manager
Connor Fogel
Digital Web Manager
Charity Foster
Communications Intern
Neil Frauenglass
Chief Marketing Officer
Michael Hanisco
Senior Content Manager
Colsen Liney
IT Assistant
Tameka Love
Assistant Controller
Keith McMenamin
Vice President of IT
Cathy McVey
Senior Vice President of Strategic Integration
Binh Nguyen
Senior Director of Communications
Rob Rabena
Director of Video & Photography
Cindy Ray
Chief Financial Officer
Joel Rivadeneira
Finance Intern
Jake Rhue
Operations Specialist
Andora Robinson
Hotel Program Coordinator
Jenea Robinson
Emily Scalzo
Digital Content Specialist
Sindoor Shah
Design Director
Laura Smythe
Communications Manager
Kyle Stein
Cassie Tomkins
Senior Director of Government and Civic Affairs
Jazmund Walker
Director of Diverse Marketing
Dan Wisniewski
Senior Director, Digital Content & Strategy
Andrew Zwarych
Research & Analytics Manager
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 R. Beauvais, Esquire Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP Anthony J. Conti (Retired) PricewaterhouseCoopers Matt Dickman Comcast Corporation Wendy Hamilton PENN Entertainment, Inc. Jazelle Jones City of Philadelphia Kevin Murnane (Retired) DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Center City Jacklin Rhoads Office of PA Governor Josh Shapiro Leslie Richards Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority James D. Schultz Scientific Games Tony Sorrentino University of Pennsylvania Carol Watson Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia
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.
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.