PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 

Tweet It: Here are three new reasons to connect with @VisitPhilly's social media properties now: http://vstphl.ly/VPLtrH

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130219/PH62640 )

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) maintains a strong social media presence, and here are three new reasons the Visit Philly accounts continue to engage and activate its more than 321,000 fans and followers:

1. Philly's All a-Twitter
   Philadelphia landed in the number five spot among the 10 most popular U.S. cities on Twitter, ranked by the number of followers of cities' official tourism Twitter accounts. The report, compiled by SkiftSocial, a company that measures social data of travel companies, found that during a two-week period, Portland and Philadelphia were the most responsive to people via Twitter. Travel Portland enlists the help of a media agency, and Philadelphia, tweeting as @VisitPhilly, is run in-house at GPTMC. The @VisitPhilly account was the most active tourism board of the top 10, meaning it tweeted the most often, with many of the tweets linking back to GPTMC's blog uwishunu.com.
2. Reader Survey Confirms Uwishunu.com Blog Activates Its Users
   Uwishunu.com, the go-to blog for everything fun and exciting happening in Philadelphia, gets people out and about. In a recent survey of 1,000 fans and followers, a whopping 94% of locals said they attended an attraction or event they read about on the site. What's more: 57% of locals invited friends or relatives to town to attend an event they read about the blog, 90.5% of readers shared content with friends and family and 78% said the site improved their impression of Philadelphia.
3. A Snapshot Of Instagram News
   GPTMC has teamed up with the Philadelphia 76ers on photo contest that runs through March 1. The promotion invites fans to take photos at Philadelphia landmarks to win tickets to Sixers home games and hotel stays. To enter, fans must visit their favorite Philadelphia attractions sporting their Sixers gear, take a photo of themselves with their mobile phone or camera and submit the photo via Instagram by tagging it with "#xoxo76ers" or online at SIXERS.COM/xoxo76ers. By leveraging the large Instagram following of both the Sixers and @VisitPhilly, the partnership spurs photo sharing of iconic Philadelphia spots across Sixers' fans' own networks.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside^® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region's vitality.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

SOURCE Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation