PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As people get more and more comfortable with going out during the pandemic, tourism in Philadelphia is improving. Now, tour companies are getting creative and offering a variety of things to do.
Founding Footsteps Tours operates year-round from its space at the Bourse on Independence Mall, offering various public and private tours.
A popular tour right now is the BYOB holiday light tour where you board the "jolly trolley" and go to various holiday light displays, including the Smedley Street Christmas Light Spectacular in South Philly. It includes live holiday music throughout the journey.
Owner Tim McAleer said it's great to see people coming out and having fun again.
"As rough as 2020 was, I think in 2021, people were really itching to get out and do things, so tourism really made a great comeback," he said.
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"We still aren't seeing large corporate groups and large tours," he added, "but outside of that you have a lot of people doing staycations and coming out, and people coming from the northeast as well coming to Philly since overseas travel was shut down for a lot of the summer."
McAleer said more area residents are coming out as well.
Other tours include a true crime tour called Bad Things Happen in Philly, and a comedic history tour called Historically Hilarious. The company will also launch a Black history tour.