VisitPITTSBURGH sings our city's praises.

There’s a new commercial about our hip city that is running in Times Square, and on TV in Philadelphia,  D.C., and Toronto.

In July, the Travel Channel named Pittsburgh among its “Best All-American Vacations.” Craig Davis, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh, unveiled a marketing campaign last week that capitalizes on the Travel Channel accolade. The campaign includes print, web, mobile, e-blasts as well as the TV commercials.

“We’re targeting the campaigns to hit key destinations, including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, D.C. and Toronto,” said Davis. In addition, VisitPittsburgh is running ads that link to a “Pittsburgh Getaway” contest.

In addition to the Travel Channel coverage, other media have been praising our city, VisitPITTSBURGH points out. Esquire magazine called Pittsburgh “hip, organic and authentic, declaring it a “must visit.”

And of course, National Geographic Traveler named Pittsburgh one of the “Best Must-See Places to Visit” in the world for 2012.

This burst of glowing media reports started back in 2007 when The New York Times was the first to declare Pittsburgh hip. “This city of 89 distinct neighborhoods is a cool and — dare I say, hip—city.

Now everyone dares to say it, including of course VisitPITTSBURGH. At its 2014 annual meeting, VisitPITTSBURGH reported that the travel industry in Pittsburgh generated $5.5 billion in spending, supporting 39,000 jobs and creating almost $340 million in tax revenues.

The staff at NEXTpittsburgh writes about the people driving change in the region and the innovative and cool things happening here.