Upbeat on outlook for Phila. tourism

When the economy goes soft, tourism is often one of the first industries to feel the effect, as consumers cut back on travel spending. But William W. Moore, president and chief executive of Philadelphia's Independence Visitor Center, is optimistic that the region's hotels, restaurants and attractions will do reasonably well in the current climate.

So far this year, Moore says, the number of people seeking information from the Visitor Center and lining up to see the Liberty Bell is ahead of 2007. The best explanation, he said, is that people still have leisure time and that, when times are tough, they choose to stick closer to home.

Question:

Do you see a direct result in numbers of visitors due to promotional efforts by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. and overseas efforts by the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau?

Answer:

They both pay off. GPTMC does great in some areas that really go direct to the consumer. They focus on (American Automobile Association) marketing, which is always a big benefit. AAA members are good tourism folks. GPTMC . . . is also doing social networking, which is something that I'm still trying to get my hands around. But they understand it very well, which is great for the younger consumer that you have to talk to in very different ways.

The Convention & Visitors Bureau . . . continues to do well, even when the convention and sales market might be a little softer. We're obviously in transition from one size Convention Center . . . to a much larger facility. That makes it sometimes more difficult to book the larger ones. So they've created some very clever work on smaller meetings, family-reunion business . . . and also going overseas, where one of the pluses . . . is we're cheap to most people compared to New York.

Q:

Are you seeing more diversity in the type of visitors, both ethnic diversity and also in overseas visitors?

A:

We're certainly seeing the impact overseas. The numbers are increasing. They're relatively small, still, to what New York does. But the numbers are trending positively. The challenge for our region is being able to be consistently funded to deliver that message. There's no question the Asian market continues to expand, probably faster than the other markets. This country and China signed a new accord that allows the travel to be a little bit less restrictive.

Nationally, we see ethnic groups starting to understand their power of traveling together in groups and doing things and being associated. For example, when the President's House site is finished, I think it's going to be a national icon that African Americans from around this country are going to want to see and understand and learn from, as well as everyone else.

Q:

Could you briefly define what President's House is?

A:

. . . I'm not a historian, but the first residence of George Washington was at a house right across the street from the Independence Visitor Center. A number of state functions apparently happened there. And within that household were a number of enslaved Africans. And those men and women lived in that house at the very time we were starting this country about "all men are created equal."

So it is, without question, a most-compelling story. They have done the archaeology on the site, uncovered far more than I think anybody thought they would find . . . bits and pieces of the house, sort of foundations in areas that they think lead them to believe and understand where the enslaved Africans may have spent time.

Q:

Are there other resources the Visitor Center needs right now to help increase tourism in Philadelphia?

A:

Like every other organization, particularly nonprofits, we work hard to stay properly funded. We're fortunate in some ways because we have a number of things that we do that help support our own business. We have a great store that visitors like a lot. We've run a cafe operation that gives people a place to eat and take a minute to think about what they want to do. We're going to open a second cafe this summer and spring, just outside our building.

Beyond that, we still need additional funding. We're trying to get the resources in a very tight economic climate, from either public sources - be those the state or be those the city - or from grant sources. We're lucky in Philadelphia to have lots of big foundations that are here we can go ask. It's challenging because lots of people are making requests. And we want them all to do well.

Q:

There has been a lot of development in Center City. Is there something that you can measure where the visitor really does feel the difference?

A:

When we opened this building in 2001, and I stood out front, it was dusty, undeveloped. The Kimmel Center wasn't here. The Constitution Center wasn't here. Two new stadiums weren't here. . . . There wasn't a lot to do. We still did over a million people our second year. The next year we had a 60 percent increase in attendance. Aside from my own personal experience, the visitor gets it. They really, really get it.

They've seen the advertising campaigns. They only go so far.

But they've started to test the messages. They come to the city, and I've met people from all over the world who said, "You know, I hadn't been to Philadelphia for 10 years, 15 years. It's not like the same city. I'm blown away."

This is a bargain, too. We may think that some of our restaurants are a little pricey, but just go a little bit north or south, and you understand what a great value we deliver for visitors. Same for the hotels.

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