Philadelphia courts international travelers

Philadelphia has Rocky, cheesesteaks, and a whole lot of history. Yet the fifth-largest U.S. city is ranked only 13th for attracting international visitors, according to a recent tourism survey.

It's understandable how the Big Four - New York (shopping!), Los Angeles (movie stars!), Orlando (Mickey!), Las Vegas (showgirls!) - beat out Philly. But Boston, San Diego, even Atlanta are ahead of the City of Brotherly Love?

"We should be in the Top 10," Sarah Reese, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said bluntly. "Some of the cities, like New York, we know we will never beat. That's like a city in the U.K. trying to beat London."

Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta are within striking distance, though, so the PCVB is determined to crack the Top 10 by pushing what Philadelphia isn't:

It isn't too big, offering downtown walkability and proximity to other regional attractions (just 90 minutes to the beaches of the Jersey Shore and the rural charm of Lancaster County's Amish Country).

It isn't too hot and sticky in summer, not like Orlando or Miami, and isn't as snowy in winter as Chicago or Boston.

It isn't too taxing here - there's no sales tax on clothing or shoes, unlike the dozen cities ranked ahead of it.

And if Philadelphia can't beat its East Coast rivals, it can join 'em.

"Luckily, we are only an hour and a half away from New York and D.C.," Reese said. "If you're already in New York, why don't you take an Amtrak train to Philly? It's the same as if you were in London - you could visit Bath or Dover."

In 2000, the year the PCVB began marketing the city overseas, Philadelphia was ranked No. 21 among U.S. cities, with 415,000 international visitors. Since then, it has jumped eight spots, but the elusive Top 10 remains the goal, said Kathleen Titus, the bureau's executive director of tourism.

Last year, the city attracted 633,000 international visitors, up 7 percent from 2009, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (part of the U.S. Commerce Department). Its annual list is based on monthly surveys of passengers (nonresident visitors to the United States from overseas and American travelers going abroad) departing from U.S. international gateway airports who filled out questionnaires.

Most of last year's international visitors came from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and China.

"From what we are seeing on the leisure side, they are interested in the arts, culture, and history that is here," said Evan Evans, general manager of the 202-room Le Meridien hotel, which opened in May 2010. "On the business side, it's pharma and health care."

Evans said international travelers now account for about 20 percent of Le Meridien's website traffic, double last year's, and about 15 percent of reservations.

With fewer international-tourism marketing dollars available to it these days, the PCVB has had to rely more on its websites, social media, overseas trade shows, and partnerships.

To promote the DVD release of Season One of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the agency worked with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to run a contest in Shortlist magazine, which has a half-million-plus weekly subscribers in Britain. The contest ad will run for two weeks, beginning Thursday; the prize includes a four-night stay at the Rittenhouse Hotel, a City Pass, and PCVB Savings Passport coupons.

Based on the agency's research, the average international traveler spends five times more than a domestic traveler - excluding airfare, more than $2,500 per person.

To counter foreigners' perception that Philadelphia is all about Rocky, not nightlife and the finer things, "we're spending a lot of time marketing [celebrity chefs] Stephen Starr and Jose Garces," Reese said. And once travelers are here, they can get most anywhere.

"We really push that Philly is a gateway," Reese said. "You can stay five days in Philly and take the train to Atlantic City and be at the beach for a day and come back. Or rent a car and be in Lancaster and experience the Amish. It's easily hub-and-spoke. The countryside, beach, and the big city, you can have it all."

And authentic? Doesn't get any more authentic than Philadelphia, she added:

"If you want to see real colonial America, come to Philly. We have the same architecture that was built in the 1700s."

That's what 21-year-old Francisco Manuel of Mexico City came for last week. He said his father visited Philadelphia more than 30 years ago and never stopped talking about it after his two sons were born.

"I had to see it for myself," Manuel, a veterinary student, said as he perused a map at the Independence Visitor Center on Friday. Since arriving late Wednesday, he had toured the Art Museum, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Academy of Natural Sciences, with the zoo left to go.

Manuel's advice to the PCVB: Run more print ads in Mexico. When he told his friends he was heading to Philly, they didn't know where it was.

"They only know New York, Boston, and Los Angeles," he said with a grin. "But Philadelphia could beat Boston. It has more history."