Tourism ads yield desired results

A study of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.'s first advertising campaign found that it helped generate more than 1 million trips to the region, injecting about $97 million in new hospitality-related dollars into the local economy.
That amount represented about 2.6 percent of the hospitality-related revenues generated in the region last year. In all, 40.6 million people visited the region in 1997.

The study of the impact of the campaign, conducted by Longwoods International, a Canadian-based travel research company, also found that:

• for every $1 spent on advertising, the region gained $54.75;
• cost per trip generated by advertising was $1.56;
• total travel expenditures in Philadelphia last year were $3.8 billion. The majority of trips (about 75 percent) were taken by day trippers. But overnight visitors who spent $2.4 billion accounted for a much larger percent of the expenditures.

Meryl Levitz, GPTMC president and CEO, said that the goal of the first slate of ads was "image enhancement."

Philadelphia, she said, had suffered from a down-scale image even though its tourism product was, in fact, upscale. The return on investment for GPTMC's campaign, she said, proved "in this business you really have to pay to play."

Meantime, new statistics released by Barbara Chaffee, executive director for Pennsylvania's Center for Travel, Tourism and Film Promotion, provided even more good news for the industry.

Chaffee said that a study done for the state by D.K. Shifflet Research showed that Philadelphia last year, with 6.4 million overnight leisure travelers, or 3.3 percent of the entire U.S. domestic leisure travel market, was the most visited destination market area in the nation.

Philadelphia edged out New York, the prior year's leader, by 0.2 percent, and even bested sunnier spots like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orlando, Fla.

Chaffee conjectured part of the reason Philadelphia's rose to the top was that it enjoyed a "ripple effect from the convention center. I think when conventioneers come and have a good experience in the city, they actually do come back."

Longwoods' data showed that the largest number of travelers to the five-county Philadelphia region came to visit friends and relatives. GPTMC and local tourism bureau's, though, hope to encourage a higher number of pleasure trips, because these types of travelers tend to spend more while going out and having a good time, dropping dollars for shopping, dining, hotels, sightseeing and nightlife.

That's why GPTMC and Chaffee's office are now working to develop a new program to promote the region's cultural, historic and entertainment assets. Chaffee said they want to do a project similar to one done by New Orleans, which puts out a kit called "kitchen table concierge."

"We are in the development brainstorming stage," Chaffee said. "We want to do a CD-ROM or floppy disc with flash cards. It would have sections for different kinds of traveler interests, an events guide and day planner."

Longwoods' research showed one of the most effective ways to attract pleasure trippers is by emphasizing special events, such as art exhibitions and festivals. Levitz said that information will have substantial impact on her organization's future efforts.

"One of the most valuable pieces of information we got was that it showed how special events help the destination. They give a sense of urgency and are in keeping with what people are expecting from Philadelphia tourism," she said.

"They're looking for a reason to come, and the reasons they understand are heritage, culture and anything new on a map or itinerary. So with the next set of ads we need to push special events more."

One way the push will be executed is through 60-second direct response TV ads, where the first part of the ad is set, but a short section at the end would change to promote different events as they appear in the calendar year.

The study showed the largest market potential for Philadelphia comes from what are known as touring travelers. These are people who visit a city with the idea of spreading out to explore surrounding areas, too. Longwoods concluded that in the Northeast, there's a market potential for 21.9 million touring trips. Washington and New York are the leaders in this category with Philadelphia having only a 3 percent share. Putting a positive spin on that finding, Longwoods' President Bill Siegel said, "That shows where there is a real opportunity."

GPTMC intends to seize on that opportunity by promoting a new series of road trips in its ads, highlighting top areas of visitor interest as determined by Longwoods' study. "Now that we've got a new picture of the new Philadelphia in their head, we have to take it to the next step and give specific lifestyle reasons for them to come," Levitz said. "It would be great to do a shopping itinerary spot or an American pilgrimage spot that says start at the Liberty Bell and then go visit Fort Mifflin and Cliveden and the historic houses in Fairmount Park."

The hope is for these nuances in the marketing plan to not only attract new tourists to the region, but to bring back those who've already paid a visit.

"Then you get efficiencies over time," Levitz said. "We want to get more out of our advertsing dollar."