Philadelphia's image as a gritty, industrial city, solidified in the "Rocky" films, remains intact in many parts of the country, despite efforts by tourism officials to change perceptions, according to a report released Thursday.
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. has a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting Philadelphia's history, nightlife and cultural events. People living in cities that don't directly see the ads continue to harbor images that center around cheesesteaks and rowdy sports fans, according to the tourism group's report.
The blue-collar image is understandable "if all you knew were movies like 'Rocky' and 'Invincible' where people are getting beat up, or 'Sixth Sense' where you see a bunch of creepy people," said Meryl Levitz, the group's president and chief executive. "That's an image that's hard to shake."
But the group, funded by the government and private donors, is trying. It is spending over $12 million this year in advertising, marketing and promotions, more than four times what it spent a decade ago.
There are signs of success: A record $10.4 billion in direct and indirect spending by visitors to Philadelphia and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties last year, the report said. That's up 3.6 percent from 2005 and up 8 percent from 2004.
The number of domestic leisure visitors staying overnight also reached an all-time high of 9.3 million.
Overnight hotel visitors — measured on a per-visiting-group basis — spent an average of $932 last winter, up 7 percent from the previous winter. Visitors with incomes of over $150,000 spent the most — an average of $923 per group.
Downtown Philadelphia had 216 fine dining restaurants in 2006, up 4 percent from 2005 but up an astounding 232 percent from 1992. The hotel occupancy rate was 73.6 percent in Center City, compared with a national average of 63.4 percent. The average daily rate for downtown hotels was $156.34.
Demand for downtown hotels is expected to stay the same or increase for most visitors until 2011.