PRESIDENT'S SUMMARY

June 2020

The month of June marks a few milestones for our industry and the Greater Palm Springs CVB. Hotels were allowed to re-open to leisure guests on June 12th, and the immediate response was overwhelmingly positive.

The CVB’s Safer Together, Greater Together Pledge is more critical than ever in order to keep our destination open, as cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to rise. The destination pledge has been signed by more than 265 businesses and endorsed by Riverside County. As part of the effort to remain open and keep our entire region safe, the CVB Brand team created a toolkit of verbiage and graphic assets that will allow other regions in the county to utilize our pledge as a foundation that they can then modify to create their own.

During our June Board Meeting, we are seeking a resolution to renew the Greater Palm Springs Tourism Improvement District (TBID). Without the TBID, it would have been nearly impossible for the CVB to be effective and deliver a response-and-recovery strategy for our local tourism industry. The TBID renewal will include a 1% assessment for short-term vacation rentals that will begin on July 1, 2021. 

Our Summer Recovery Campaign has launched in the regional markets of Southern California, Arizona, Las Vegas and San Francisco. The campaign creative will be unique to each media outlet but true to our “oasis” brand and pillars of health & wellness, outdoor adventure, and arts & culture. We will also integrate the destination pledge to ensure visitors are aware of our commitment to their safety and understand the expectations of how to travel responsibly.

The CVB budget proposed for fiscal year 2020/2021 is significantly lower than the previous year, but the team developed strategies that are very targeted yet flexible to change as needed. So many variables are still unknown, but one constant variable is our cohesive collaboration and ultimate desire to work together and blend our differences into a successful outcome. 

I am very proud of our CVB team and the tourism industry. The outpouring of help—from our Tourism Foundation to Find Food Bank, Lift to Rise, and more—has been amazing. Everyone has given their time, money and spirit to succeed during this difficult period.

On behalf of the entire staff, we thank you for your support. 

Sincerely,

Scott White, President/CEO