PHILADELPHIA-
A regional hotel association is urging its members to think twice before putting the latest edition of Philadelphia magazine in guest rooms, saying the cover story on the city’s homicide rate could scare away visitors, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association represents 85 members in the Delaware Valley, including the operators of nearly all of Center City’s 10,200 hotel rooms.
Ed Grose, the group’s executive director, said the article could end up hurting business.
“I recommend that you review your position on what effect this article and cover will have on your guests who are staying in your guest rooms,” Grose wrote in the letter. “I feel that sensationalizing the murder rate in our city will have a negative effect on our customers.”
Ordinarily, about 6,000 complimentary copies of the glossy monthly are distributed in local hotel rooms. But Grose urged hotels to reconsider this month, citing a cover that depicts a single handgun and reads “Murder. One terrifying night on the streets–and why everything we’re doing to stop the shooting won’t work.” The issue hit newsstands on Oct. 27.
Through Oct. 26, there had been 330 homicides in the city this year, a 6.5 percent increase from the same point in 2005.
Larry Platt, the magazine’s editor, denied accusations that the story was sensational.
This is a Philadelphia problem, and great cities tackle their problems head-on,” he said.
