THE CONSTITUTIONAL WALKING TOUR PROUDLY PRESENTS ITS
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED TOUR IN 13 FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Visitors can now experience Historic Philadelphia in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch,
French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Polish, Russian & Spanish
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – January 3, 2007 – The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia today announced the beta launch of its new foreign language translations of its critically acclaimed self-guided walking tour of Historic Philadelphia in thirteen languages including: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. The foreign language translations of The Constitutional’s self-guided tour are available online and are free of charge. For more information on The Constitutional’s foreign language tour programming, please visit, www.TheConstitutional.com/foreign .
“The Constitutional Walking Tour is very excited to be the only Philadelphia tour operator offering free foreign language translations of our programming online. Having The Constitutional Walking Tour available in 14 languages is a great service to Philadelphia’s global audience of visitors – in 2005, Philadelphia welcomed more than 430,000 international visitors with $234 million in economic impact,”1 stated Jonathan Bari, Chairman of The Constitutional Walking Tour. “In addition, the number of foreign language translations which The Constitutional offers will be growing in the future to include languages such as Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish and Vietnamese.”
The Constitutional’s foreign language translations were developed by a group of generous volunteers that includes historians, professional translators, native speakers, students and language professors. Visitors can download and print the various foreign language translations of The Constitutional’s self-guided tour at www.TheConstitutional.com/foreign .
Solution Media, the developer of The Constitutional’s Web site, created the user interface, content management system and backend database functionality for the foreign language translations. “We were thrilled to work with The Constitutional to help present its unique storytelling of America’s Birthplace in various foreign languages,” stated Nidhi Krishen, Chief Technology Officer of Solution Media.
The Constitutional Walking Tour takes visitors through the Independence National Historical Park area by connecting the buildings and places where the events of the American Revolution transpired. The tour includes more than 30 sites in the Independence Park area, such as the Liberty Bell, National Constitution Center, Betsy Ross House and Independence Hall, plus 18 sites that are “Steps off the Tour” for those who want to explore beyond the core historic area.
Independence Hall has been designated as a World Heritage Site, along with certain other global icons such as the Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China, the Tower of London and the Taj Mahal. According to the National Park Service, these World Heritage Sites “…are such outstanding universally recognized natural and cultural features that they attract the admiration and merit the protection of all people worldwide. They are a heritage Americans share with the world. The mere mention of their names evokes this nation’s heritage and universal human values. Independence Hall honors the key American governmental documents whose words have echoed in struggles for independence and self-government around the world.”2
“By providing The Constitutional in many foreign languages, we broaden our storytelling scope to better educate the world about the brave actions of America’s Founding Fathers at Philadelphia’s own World Heritage Site, Independence Hall,” stated Leslie Bari, Vice Chairman of The Constitutional Walking Tour. “In addition to shaping American democracy, the actions of our Founding Fathers have helped shape the constitutions of many democracies throughout the world, and as such, it is a fitting tribute to our Founding Fathers to offer The Constitutional in various foreign languages to ensure that their great accomplishments are passed on from generation to generation.”
About The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia
The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia takes visitors on a walking journey through America's Most Historic Square Mile, the birthplace of our nation – “Where Every Day is Independence Day!”™ Located in Center City Philadelphia, The Constitutional includes many sites within the Independence National Historical Park area, which is home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. The Constitutional guides visitors on a walk through history where The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution were created. The Constitutional is one of Philadelphia’s “Top 25 Tourist Attractions” as ranked by the Philadelphia Business Journal and one of the leading providers of School Field Trips of Historic Philadelphia. Visitors can experience The Constitutional: 1) on their own as a free, self-guided walking tour, 2) with a lively tour guide for a fee, 3) with the Philly MP3 Audio Tour or 4) via the Constitutional Cell Phone Tour by calling 215-229-TOUR (8687). For more information on The Constitutional’s self-guided tours, guided tours, field trips, private tours, VIP tours and audio tours, please visit www.TheConstitutional.com. Guided and audio tours are offered by The Constitutional Guided Walking Tours, LLC which is a licensee of The Constitutional Foundation, Inc. d/b/a The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia; a portion of the proceeds from all guided and audio tour fees benefits The Constitutional Foundation and its free self-guided tour.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: High-resolution photographs are available for media usage at:
www.TheConstitutional.com/images.
1 U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, 2005.
2 http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm
