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The Expert in Baby Boomer Travel

Travel Copywriter

Philadelphia tourism

Elfreth's Alley: The oldest residential street in the U.S. Photo by Charles Ridgeway.

Elfreth’s Alley: The oldest residential street in the U.S. Photo by Charles Ridgeway.

Quick Quiz:

What city in the U.S. can claim the first American:

  • Public school (1698)
  • Residential street (1702)
  • Library (1731)
  • Independent hospital (1731)
  • Fire-fighting company (1736)
  • Meetings of the U.S. Congress (1774)
  • First university (1779)
  • Public Bank (1780)
  • Daily Newspaper (1784)
  • Stock exchange (1790)
  • Circus (1793)
  • Manned air flight (1793)
  • Art museum and school (1805)
  • Carbonated water (1807)
  • Theater (1809)
  • Natural history museum (1812)
  • African American university (1837)
  • Advertising agency (1869)
  • Zoo (1874)
  • Merry-go-round (1867)
  • Ice cream soda (1876)
  • Cafeteria-style restaurant (1902)
  • Funeral home (built as such) (1905)
  • Thanksgiving Day parade (1919)
  • Totally air conditioned building (1932)
  • Cheesesteak (1932)
  • Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)
  • Fully electronic computer invented (1946)
  • Slinky (1948)
  • Polio vaccine (1960)

Not to mention (though I’m mentioning them anyway): the first U.S. Mint, the first department store, the first botanical garden, the first opera… Continue reading

Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood beckons tourists from around the world. Photo by J Fusco for Visit Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood beckons tourists from around the world. Photo by J Fusco for Visit Philadelphia.

What do you do if you’re in charge of marketing a city destination and you lose most of your state funding?

If you’re Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia — the official destination marketing organization for the city and five regional counties — you get creative.

Levitz, who has headed up Visit Philadelphia (known as the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation until November 2013)  since the mid-1990s, told the travel site Skift.com that her biggest challenge was funding, with Pennsylvania state cutbacks resulting in a one-third cutback in her budgets for the past three years. State funding for Visit Philadelphia has dropped from $4 or $5 million a year to zero, though this year they’re getting a special $850,000 grant from the state to promote countryside towns in the area.… Continue reading

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According to government and private surveys:

  • Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
  • Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
  • Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
  • When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.

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