With Philadelphia rapidly emerging as a top LGBT tourism destination — and Facebook rapidly emerging as a realistic business tool — the local tourism bureau has turned to the social-media site to help promote the City of Brotherly Love to LGBT visitors. The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation debuted its first LGBT-focused Facebook application on Oct. 30. The application features a personality quiz that allows visitors to find out which local neighborhood fits them best. Neighborhoods include the Gayborhood, Old City, Rittenhouse, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, East Passyunk and New Hope. The quiz also gives visitors a chance to win tickets to the Lady Gaga concert in February and a weekend stay in Philadelphia. Visitors must like GPTMC’s LGBT page, “Visit Gay Philly,” in order to take the quiz. GPTMC director of public relations Bruce Yelk said the corporation thought the app would be a good way to attract new Facebook supporters to learn about the city’s LGBT tourism efforts. “We were trying to get more engagement and interaction to the page,” he said. “As Facebook keeps changing their rules, it gets harder and harder to reach our fans.” GPTMC also has utilized other social-networking sites, such as Pinterest, Foursquare and Foodspotting, to promote Philadelphia tourism. Yelk said he hopes to see more LGBT-inclusive apps for the corporation in the future. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/VisitGayPhilly. Participants must complete the quiz by Nov. 13 for a chance to win tickets. Applicants can take the quiz multiple times, but will only be entered into the contest once.
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