Skift Q&A: Visit Philly CEO on Using New Media to Rebrand an Old City
Photo Credit: Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, speaks to media on a Philadelphia Neighborhoods trolley tour in April 2013. To her left is Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Visit Philadelphia / M. Edlow
Skift Take
As the U.S. and its cities learn to promote themselves to travelers for the first time, Visit Philadelphia's successes are an anomaly and a promising example in a still under-recognized U.S. industry.
Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, has played a critical role in revitalizing the image of the historic U.S. city over the past 30 years.
Levitz joined the board of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau after launching a downtown business association, but was quickly asked to join the staff as vice president of tourism to develop the organization's marketing strategy. Levitz left the PCVB to found and become CEO of the leisure marketing group, Visit Philadelphia (then known as GPTMC) in August 1996, making her a formidable player in U.S. destination marketing for more than 20 years.
This year in particular was full of milestones for Visit Philadelphia, including a name change, mobile launch, the ten-year anniversary of its Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay campaign, and the launch of a new Neighborhoods campaign.
Visit Philadelphia is a industry leader when it comes to content marketing and uses its web presence to share content
