Apps and sites for Phila. sights

Facing cuts in their funding as a result of tighter state budgets, tourism officials nationally are innovating.

In selling Philadelphia, social media - such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and tourism-related apps and blogs - have become invaluable tools for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. in reaching a much broader audience at a fraction of the cost of advertising in traditional media.

"People are on the go," said the agency's president and chief executive officer, Meryl Levitz, during a luncheon Wednesday at the PNC Building to celebrate the GPTMC's 15th anniversary. "But our job is to reach them at all their potential 'reach' points."

With an increasingly savvy, value-oriented consumer, Levitz said, the marriage of technology and tourism was inevitable.

"You have a smarter traveler who is cost-conscious," she said. "These days, they are more likely to use money they've earned vs. money they've borrowed. And with the use of iPads, smartphones, and BlackBerrys, they don't stop planning their trips when they're on one. They are constantly revising and planning other things to do while on their trips."

The Tourism Marketing Corp. has four Facebook accounts and four Twitter accounts. It has a Philly page on the rating site TripAdvisor.com, and a similar partnership is being formed with Travelocity.com.

Two months ago, it launched visitphilly.com, a mobile site that advises where to stay and what to see in the city, accessible on smartphones.

The group also introduced two new apps this year - Foursquare and Foodspotting - to promote Philly travel. Foursquare highlights new places to discover and explore, while Foodspotting allows its 800,000 or so users to take photos of a food or drink they've sampled and share it online.

The GPTMC is forecasting a $2 million reduction in state funding for its new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, based on the proposed fiscal year 2011-12 state budget in Harrisburg, said Levitz.

"We are keeping a close eye on the state's budget, as our colleagues throughout the commonwealth are doing as well," she said.

Kelli Roberts, spokeswoman for Gov. Corbett, confirmed Wednesday that the $5.5 million statewide tourist-promotion assistance grant was line-itemed out of the proposed budget. She said that represented less than 7 percent of the funding that is used for tourism-promotion agencies statewide.

"We are facing a $4 billion deficit," Roberts said. "Obviously, the governor had to make some tough decisions."

Roberts said regional tourism promotional agencies, such as the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., have a dedicated funding source, which comes from the tax on hotel rooms. In Philadelphia, the hotel tax is 8.2 percent, of which GPTMC gets 1 percent as its funding.

"That has nothing to do with the line item that was in the governor's budget," she said, "and because of that, we saw it necessary that we pull back on the state grant."

Roberts said such agencies also can apply for other sources of funding, including membership dues and sponsorships.

Levitz said among the items to go this year, if the cuts are approved, will be winter advertising for the With Love, Philadelphia XOXO campaign.

Levitz said social media offered advantages to today's traveler, such as up-to-the minute reviews, word-of-mouth, and the ability to price-compare and engage in a two-way conversation over brands online.

"This is not an East Coast/West Coast thing," said David Brudney, a hospitality marketing consultant based near San Diego. "It's everywhere.

"Destination marketing organizations and hotels alike have been testing the water big time the past couple of years," he said. "Dollars previously spent on print and electronic advertising are now being directed toward social media."

The Philadelphia region attracted 37.4 million visitors last year, according to a study conducted by Longwoods International.

About 33 million of them came here for leisure, or 10 million more than in 1997, the Tourism Marketing Corp.'s first full year.

In July, the tourism group has a two-day workshop planned for the city's hotels to expand their social-media networks.

Bill Fitzgerald, general manager of the 432-room Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia on the Avenue of the Arts, said hotels had no choice but to lean on social media. He said his hotel now had a full-time e-commerce person to monitor its website.

"You see it in the bookings," Fitzgerald said. "Everyone is booking on the Web. No one uses the 1-800 numbers anymore."