Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Executive Summary The Independence Visitor Center Corporation (IVCC) energized the visitor experience in 2014 at the Independence Visitor Center with a number of in-building improvements, and beyond our doors with the renewed operations of the Philly PHLASH seasonal transportation loop. Improving the visitor experience at the Independence Visitor Center means providing modern amenities and making it easy for visitors to access and navigate through the Visitor Center. As part of our building enhancements during 2014, visitors are now greeted with: • A new North End entrance that is more visible from Arch Street and Independence Mall. The North End doors also provide an exit that is now transparent and aligned with the Market Street corridor creating a more inviting thoroughfare as visitors walk through the building. • LEED Silver certification of the Independence Visitor Center was awarded this year, showing our commitment to social responsibility for the Philadelphia region and to our millions of visitors. • Free cell phone charging with the installation of ChargeItSpot, a secure charging station giving users the ability to leave and come back to retrieve their phone; more than 3,500 charges were made in the first three months of use. The IVCC is also proud to extend our focus on the visitor experience outside of our locations with the management of the Philly PHLASH. Given the resources to operate the system by the State Transportation bill, a new service operator, Krapf’s Coaches, was selected and a new modern fleet of vehicles was launched, revitalizing the visitor-friendly and easy-toaccess transportation loop which has been in service for 20 years. Our 2014 annual report is a reflection of IVCC’s direct influence on visitor satisfaction, spending and experience. Nearly 2.2 million visitors were welcomed to the Independence Visitor Center in 2014, which remains the most visited venue in the Philadelphia region. In addition, we continue to offer visitor services throughout the city at the City Hall Visitor Center, Fairmount Park Welcome Center at Love Park, Sister Cities Park Visitor Center and Pennsylvania Convention Center, and have served more than 110,000 visitors this past year combined from these locations. Looking ahead to 2015, the IVCC will embark on architectural design and construction planning for a Visitor Experience Improvement Program (VEIP) that will upgrade and re-invent visitor engagement and utilization of the Independence Visitor Center. Through this process we look forward to working with our stakeholders and partners to cultivate a transformative and impactful experience for our future visitors, and one that supports the continued economic growth of our region’s tourism industry. Sincerely,

John H. Estey

James J. Cuorato,

Chair, IVCC Board of Directors President & CEO, IVCC

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Board of Directors JOSEPH T. ASHDALE

JOHN H. ESTEY, ESQUIRE

ROBERT N.C. NIX, III

Assistant Business Manager/ Secretary-Treasurer District Council No. 21 International Union of Painters & Allied Trades

BOARD CHAIRMAN Executive Vice-President for Administration Hershey Trust Company

Chairman Pleasant News Companies

LYNN R. AXELROTH, ESQUIRE Partner Ballard Spahr, LLP

W. BRADLEY BATURKA Principal Elko & Associates Ltd

THOMAS A. CARAMANICO

JACK FERGUSON President & CEO Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau

LYN R. KREMER Publisher The Philadelphia Business Journal

MERYL LEVITZ

BOARD VICE CHAIR President McCormick, Taylor, Inc.

President & CEO Visit Philadelphia™ (Formerly Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation)

MICHAEL COSTELLO

PAUL R. LEVY

General Manager Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing

Executive Director Center City District

J.J. (JONATHAN J.) CUTLER Managing Consultant Futurestep

PAUL R. DECKER

STEPHEN P. MULLIN BOARD SECRETARY President and Principal Econsult Solutions

WILLIAM B. PETERSEN BOARD TREASURER Vice President and Associate General Counsel Verizon

TIM REEVES Principal Allen & Gerritsen

AMY SHEARER Chief Marketing Officer The Philadelphia Zoo

MARC WOOLLEY Deputy General Counsel, Secretary and CCO Hershey Trust Company

Mayor’s Representative: MARGARET HUGHES First Deputy City Representative City of Philadelphia

Governor’s Representative: WILLIAM A. GRAHAM, IV The Graham Company

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Attendance The Independence Visitor Center is the gateway to Independence National Historical Park and the official welcome center for the Greater Philadelphia region. It is the exclusive location to pick up free timed-tickets to Independence Hall and is staffed by National Park Rangers providing park visitation information. The Visitor Center is also staffed with Visitor Services Representatives (VSRs) who serve hundreds of thousands of visitors each year seeking directions, information, and tickets for attractions and tours throughout the city and region.

Monthly Attendance in Independence National Historical Park

Monthly Attendance at the Independence Visitor Center January

61,035

January

155,249

February

53,131

February

131,121

March

123,986

March

235,535

April

199,156

April

370,927

May

216,481

May

408,152

June

259,435

June

390,588

July

332,214

July

487,660

August

290,690

August

427,221

September

173,110

September

301,362

October

181,323

October

302,144

November

131,262

November

231,803

December

112,999

December

201,290

TOTAL for 2014

2,134,822

TOTAL for 2014

3,643,052

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Funding Sources IVCC directly manages more than two-thirds of the generated income to sustain the daily operations of the Independence Visitor Center. IVCC also receives grant funding from the National Park Service for use specific to building operation expenses.

34%

FY14 Percentage of IVCC Generated Income

Ticket Sales • IVCC is a third-party ticket seller for more than 60 partners of attractions, tours and events throughout the region.

53%

Concession Sales • Gift shops at the Independence Visitor Center, Fairmount Park Welcome Center and City Hall Visitor Center. • Café Independence inside the Independence Visitor Center and Independence Mall Café across from the Visitor Center.

3%

Facility Rentals

10%

Ad Sales

• Advertising opportunities are sold to local and national companies in key locations throughout the Visitor Center to offer maximum exposure to a diverse audience of consumers as they explore the building.

• The Liberty View Ballroom and four additional spaces throughout the Visitor Center are available for rental yearround, hosting various private corporate, social and public events in the daytime and evening hours.

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Visitor Services IVCC’s multilingual Visitor Services Representatives (VSRs) serve visitors on a daily basis at the Independence Visitor Center and our satellite locations at City Hall, Love Park, and Sister Cities Park. Our VSRs are key influencers to visitors in how they will spend their time exploring Philadelphia, as more than 40% of visitors surveyed add 2-3 attractions to their plans as a result of speaking to a VSR.*

Number of Attractions/Tours Added to Itinerary after Visiting the Visitor Services Desk: 40%

26%

% of Visitors Surveyed

15% 9% 2% None

1

2-3

4-6

7-10

6% 10+

Number of Attractions

Stay Connected!

In 2014, IVCC served more than

The IVCC practices excellent customer service to those that stop in the Independence Visitor Center and its satellite locations as well as those that connect with them digitally.

outside its physical locations on PHLvisitorcenter.com, Twitter (@PHLvisitorcntr) and Facebook.

189,000 visitors

*IVCC partners with Econsult Solutions, Inc. to survey visitors inside the Independence Visitor Center. The above data is contained in a report generated by Econsult for the 2014 calendar year.

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Visitor Profiles Where visitors are from:

Finding out about the Visitor Center

24%

8%

Hotel/Convention/Tour

3%

Word-of-Mouth

Print Ad

76%

24%

UNITED STATES

INTERNATIONAL*

TOP 10 Pennsylvania New Jersey New York California Maryland Florida Virginia Ohio Texas Indiana

TOP 10 United Kingdom Germany Canada China France Australia India Brazil Italy Netherlands

34%

of visitors are finding the Visitor Center online

81

%

of visitors to the Visitor Center are leisure travelers

50% of visitors planned their trip within the last 3 months *outside of U.S. Data contained in 2014 report generated by Econsult Solutions, Inc.

31%

of visitors notice the building while in the area.

69% of visitors prefer to look for information online

75% of visitors are in Philadelphia for 1-3 days

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Visit Philadelphia & IVCC Now in the partnership’s sixth year, the IVCC and Visit Philadelphia® continue to drive visitors to start their trip to Philadelphia at the Independence Visitor Center.

Wonder no more. My pals at the Independence Visitor center can hook you up with advice, tickets, brochures, maps and more .

P.S. It’s Across the street from thAt fAmous crAcked bell.

Total Partnership Impressions:

8,460,295

Using the With Love Philadelphia XOXO® campaign, ads were placed with the call-to-action of starting your visit at the Independence Visitor Center in key impactful locations such as along I-95, 4,000 hotel rooms, 3 newsstands in Center City, a double decker tour bus, the Official Visitors Guide, Where Magazine and Arrive Magazine during peak visitation timeframes within the 2014 calendar year.

Visitphilly.com sent more than 32,000 visitors to PHLvisitorcenter.com in 2014, making it the Visitor Center’s highest web traffic source.

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Statement of Financial Position Assets Current Assets Cash and Cash Equivalents $ Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Accounts Receivable Grants Receivable Prepaid Expenses

1,272,389 690,337 352,520 50,000 44,921

Total Current Assets 2,410,167 Property and Equipment Equipment Less: Accumulated Depreciation

101,728 (61,683)

Total Property and Equipment, net 40,045 Investments

10,671,553

Total Assets

$

13,121,765

Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses $ Deferred Revenue

732,349 338,164

Liabilities and Net Assets Current Liabilities

Total Current Liabilities

1,070,513

Net Assets Unrestricted Temporarily Restricted Permanently Restricted

9,459,175 592,077 2,000,000

Total Net Assets 12,051,252 Total Liabilities and Net Assets

$

13,121,765

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

Statement of Cash Flow Cash Flows from Operating Activities Increase in Net Assets

$

2,377,552

Adjustments to Reconcile Increase in Net Assets to Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities: Depreciation Realized and Unrealized Gain on Investments Change in Operating Assets Accounts Receivable Grants Receivable Prepaid Expenses Change in Operating Liabilities Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses Deferred Revenue

16,472 (1,131,682)

Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities

1,119,743

(13,583) 162,500 69,590 (615,004) 253,898

Cash Flows from Investing Activities Purchase of Investments Sales of Investments Increase in Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents

(2,199,947) 1,940,688 (401,781)

Net Cash Used By Investing Activities

(661,040)

Net Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and Cash Equivalents, beginning of year

458,703

Cash and Cash Equivalents, beginning of year

$

Supplemental Disclosure of Cash Flow Information Cash Paid During the Year for Interest



813,686 1,272,389

1,550

Independence Visitor Center Corporation 2014 Annual Report

About the IVCC The INDEPENDENCE VISITOR CENTER CORPORATION (IVCC) is a Pennsylvania non-profit, 501(c)3 organization which operates in cooperation with the efforts of the National Park Service, Visit Philadelphia®, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Independence Visitor Center is the primary point of orientation for Independence National Historical Park, the City of Philadelphia, the Southern New Jersey and Delaware River Waterfronts, as well as Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania.

@PHLvisitorcntr

PHLvisitorcenter

PHLvisitorcenter.com | LibertyViewBallroom.com | RidePhillyPHLASH.com

1 N. Independence Mall West 6th & Market Streets Philadelphia, PA 19106