| It seems we don't think much of the | | | | Philadelphia residents. Recently a survey by |
| attractiveness of Philadelphians, according | | | | the American Obesity Society ranked the city |
| to a recent online survey entitled "America's | | | | in the top ten for having the largest |
| favorite cities" undertaken jointly by Travel | | | | proportion of overweight people for the fifth |
| & Leisure News and CNN Headline news. | | | | time in five years, reinforcing the image of |
| | | | Philadelphians as amongst the fattest in the |
| 60,000 respondents who took part in the | | | | United States. |
| survey ranked the people of Philadelphia rock | | | | |
| bottom in four of the categories surveyed. | | | | Pride has dropped even further due to the |
| Respondents said that those living in the | | | | underachievement of the city's four major |
| 'City of Brotherly Love' were the least | | | | sporting franchises that between them haven't |
| active, least worldly, least stylish and the | | | | scooped a championship title since 1983 when |
| least friendly in the United States. The city | | | | the 76ers won the NBA Championship. |
| with a population approaching 1.5 million | | | | |
| just beat out Washington DC and Dallas/Fort | | | | Given the survey results you would be |
| Worth for the bottom spot, while San Diego | | | | forgiven for thinking that Americans are |
| and Miami topped the poll for attractiveness. | | | | avoiding the city at all costs, and that |
| | | | nothing could drag them there. However, that |
| Quick to defend the city and its residents, | | | | couldn't be farther from the truth; in 2006 |
| Amy Farley, senior editor at Travel & Leisure | | | | occupancy rates for the average city center |
| said that the results didn't mean that | | | | hotel in Philadelphia hit a new high of 73.6 |
| respondents thought that citizens of | | | | % - the highest since 1998. |
| Philadelphia were unattractive. She said: "We | | | | |
| asked people who took part in the survey to | | | | Indeed, the data produced by PKF Consulting |
| vote on attractiveness, not unattractiveness. | | | | for a number of city hospitality |
| The results don't mean that Philadelphia is a | | | | organisations including the Greater |
| bad place to visit or that people there are | | | | Philadelphia Hotel Association, showed that |
| ugly. The editors at Travel & Leisure believe | | | | for the first time ever occupancy rates on |
| that Philadelphia has many attractive | | | | Wednesday and Saturday were running at 81%. |
| residents. The perceived attractiveness of | | | | This data proves that, whatever the surveys |
| the residents of a city is only a miniscule | | | | may suggest about the rest of the country's |
| measure factor in assessing a city's merit." | | | | perceptions about Philadelphia's residents, |
| | | | the city is still extremely attractive to |
| However nicely Ms Farley tries to cushion the | | | | leisure visitors and business travellers, and |
| blow this is the latest in a recent string of | | | | 2007 is set to be a boom year for the hotel |
| surveys that have knocked the self-esteem of | | | | and hospitality sector. |