Global Conversations with: Meryl Levitz, CEO and President of GPTMC

On May 30, 2012, Zabeth Teelucksingh and Hayley Hanafee, for GPA, interviewed Meryl Levitz, marketing guru to the city of Philadelphia and CEO and President of the Greater Philadelphia Marketing Tourism Corporation (GPTMC). Originally from Chicago and trained as a teacher, Meryl has been instrumental in expanding the regional tourism economic impact to $8.7 billion.

In this interview, Meryl explains how she came to lead such a prominent organization and what she believes is most unique about Philadelphia.

How did you become involved with Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Company?

I was one of the co-founders of the Center City Association of Proprietors in 1978. The idea was to promote Center City [district of Philadelphia] as a shopping and dining destination. Because I knew so much about Center City, I was asked to join the Board of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) in 1982. After a few years, I left the board and joined the staff and became head of tourism. I co-opened the Convention Center, the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, did a lot of the festivals and special events. We made tourism happen sporadically.

When Ed Rendell became mayor, he and Governor Ridge, and Rebecca Rimell from Pew Charitable Trust thought that tourism, branding, and image should happen consistently—not sporadically. They established GPTMC [The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation] and did a national search for a President and CEO and found me just a couple blocks away.

What are the obstacles to putting Philadelphia on the map as a popular destination?

Hospitality Tourism is a very competitive field. In a number of cities it’s not always left to one organization. As the Chairman of the Philadelphia Convention-Visitors Bureau, Jack Ferguson, frequently says, “They do wholesale; we do retail.” They work with meeting planners, travel agents, associations and tour operators, and we work directly with the consumer and the media.

Philadelphia really has very few hotel rooms for the 5^th largest city in the America. You need the rooms not only for peak nights, but also many of these hotels have national advertising campaigns and national reservation services. It’s another way of getting Philadelphia on the map.

How has GPTMC evolved to have such a large online web and social media presence?

In 1997 we had developed a website that was called Gophila.com. We have always been one of the first to realize the power of social media, the power of online advertising, and the power of online to be today’s word of mouth wherever people will tune in and listen. We changed the name to Visitphilly.com and greatly expanded its content. Mayor Street and City Council funded us over two years to take Philly into the social media world, and the key piece of that was Uwishunu—you wish you knew—the best places as a Philly insider’s guide.

How has Barnes opening on the Parkway influenced the With Art Philadelphia^TM Campaign?

The big tipping point “With Art Philadelphia^TM" came from the arts institutions themselves. They came to us and wanted to work together and use the Barnes not as the finish line but the starting gate to reposition Philadelphia as a compelling must-see, must-do destination. We hired Buzz Marketing Group who came up with tagline “Curate Your Own Experience.” And I came up with “With Art.” The “withi-ness” of it all; everybody coming together. When you do art, you are doing it with the city. You are also doing it with the wonderful restaurant, music, and shopping scene.

One of the big focus points will be not just the keepers of art on the Parkway, but the makers of art who are all throughout the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. A goal of “With Art” is to connect the art that is already recognized to the art that is being created today.