DESTINATION MARKETING

The Destination Marketing department leads all marketing initiatives set forth by Visit Greater Palm Springs (Visit GPS) and works collaboratively with the Brand, Destination Development, Partnership, Convention Sales, and Tourism Development teams to ensure an effective and cohesive message across all media elements

Priorities for the marketing department include targeted advertising plans for leisure travelers and the convention sales market, in addition to specific seasonal campaigns like our annual "Summer Chill" campaign. In recent years, marketing plans have expanded to include specific promotion of destination pillars such as our Oasis of Art, Love Local, and Vacation Rental campaigns. These include a well-rounded mix of higher and lower funnel tactics, including television, out-of-home, digital advertising and social media, along with partner television co-op advertising and co-op programs with Visit California and Brand USA.

Recently campaigns have also included advertising targeting the local community with messaging related to the Benefits of Tourism, Benefits of Vacation Rentals, and Workforce Development.

In 2023, Visit GPS also launched an international advertising campaign with Finn Partners in the UK in an effort to reach UK and Ireland travelers, as well as international co-ops through Visit California and Brand USA in order to expand to markets like the UK, France, Mexico, Germany, and Australia.

For more details on these campaigns, please expand the individual drawers below. 

  • What Will You Find?

    Visit Greater Palm Springs’ brand campaign “What Will You Find?” launched in mid-September 2023 for the second year in a row and will run until Summer 2024. Target markets included our year-round drive and fly markets, with the addition of seasonal fly markets during this timeframe (Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Portland, Denver, Dallas, New York, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Chicago, Eugene, Houston, Minneapolis, as well as the Canadian markets of Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg).

    This campaign is deployed across all media plan programs including Expedia, TripAdvisor, Travelzoo, Centro, Nativo, Afar Magazine, Lonely Planet, Locale Magazine, Sojern, Weather Channel, and more.

    WWYF Fall 23 WWYF Fall 23

  • Summer Campaign 2023

    Visit GPS's annual Summer Chill campaign included branded television spots, partner co-op television, digital outdoor billboards, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Travelzoo, SpaFinder, Centro, Sojern, Pink Media, Nativo, Pandora streaming radio, Weather.com, Palm Springs Life, Locale Magazine, co-op advertising with Visit California, social media advertising, and the promotion of the Summer Eats Pass, which features local restaurants in Greater Palm Springs.

    For the 2023 season, television co-op partners included Agua Caliente Casinos, City of La Quinta, Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, JW Marriott Desert Springs, The Living Desert, Omni Rancho Las Palmas, Palm Springs Preferred Small Hotels, Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells, The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, Visit Palm Springs, and Westin Rancho Mirage. View the complete playlist HERE

  • Television

    Visit Greater Palm Springs' television campaign includes drive and year-round fly markets during the summer season, and expands in the fall to include all seasonal fly markets. 

    Updated brand television spots launched in Fall 2023 as part of the "What Will You Find?" campaign that will run through Spring 2024. The spots include both generic and market/airline-specific tags in select locations.

           

  • Out Of Home

    Digital outdoor billboards run year-round in Los Angeles and San Diego. Seasonal markets are added in the fall and include San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and Minneapolis. Dedicated billboards also run in Los Angeles and San Diego promoting select upcoming destination events.

    VGPS BB DriveVGPS BB Drive

  • Expedia

    Expedia is one of the top performing advertising programs driving bookings to Greater Palm Springs – in 2022, Expedia reported a $200:$1 return on ad spend, meaning that for each dollar invested into the campaign, $200 in Expedia bookings were generated by people exposed to our advertising. The 2022 campaign also generated over $85M in gross bookings to the destination. Results will be updated in Q1 2024 to reflect 2023 year-end numbers. 

    This campaign runs year-round with updated creative messaging that is updated seasonally, promoting both hotel and vacation rental stays.

     

  • TripAdvisor

    TripAdvisor is one of the largest travel resource sites and is a core year-round campaign for Visit Greater Palm Springs, supporting awareness of the destination and influencing travelers as they research and plan their trips. This campaign includes digital display, retargeting, and video display advertising. 

    Tripadvisor ad 2

  • Travelzoo

    Travelzoo reaches consumers searching for travel deals and provides them with overall destination information as well as Partner offers at no cost or commission. The Travelzoo campaign runs seasonally, featuring updated content and offers throughout the year.

    Travelzoo campaign

  • Digital Programs

    Digital display, native, and digital video advertising programs support all of Visit Greater Palm Springs' advertising campaigns, including year-round Brand creative, partner co-op advertising, and campaigns that support destination pillars such as the Summer Eats Pass, Restaurant Week, Work Remote, Benefits of Tourism/Vacation Rentals, Workforce Development, Oasis of Art, and more. 

    Programmatic display, native, and video advertising runs across Centro/Basis, Sojern, and Journera to target and re-target consumers and inspire travel to Greater Palm Springs. Additional digital programs run directly through sites like Locale Magazine, Palm Springs Life, Dogtrekker, Weather Channel, Pandora, and SpaFinder. 

    Oasis Of Art Fall WWYF Remote Work Benefits of Tourism Campaign Workforce Development  vacation rentals

  • Visit California Co-Op Programs

    Visit Greater Palm Springs actively participates in Visit California's cooperative advertising programs in an effort to maximize advertising dollars across key platforms like Expedia, Sojern, and TripAdvisor. 

    Visit Greater Palm Springs most recently participated in the spring/summer 2023 season and will resume co-ops in spring 2024 to align with Visit California’s upcoming new campaign messaging. 

    VisitCA Coop 1         VisitCA Coop 2  

  • Social Media

    Visit Greater Palm Springs (VGPS) is dedicated to elevating awareness of Greater Palm Springs as a top leisure destination in 2024. VGPS Social Team's commitment extends to engaging and captivating audiences through strategic social media channels, including VisitGreaterPS, dineGPS, VisitCADesert, and TeamGreaterPS.

    Through video short-form content, we invite travelers to explore the vibrant facets of our SoCal oasis by curating first-person perspectives and user-generated content. By collaborating with influencers/content creators, VGPS plans to reach new audiences on various platforms. VGPS highlights pillars covering content about things to do, health and wellness, outdoor adventures, arts and culture, and culinary experiences.

    Other digital campaigns included Restaurant WeekSummer Eats PassWhat Will You Find?Time to FlyOasis of Art, and signature events.

  • Local Campaigns

    The Love Local campaign was expanded and re-imagined in 2023 with the launch of our new Love Local social media and blog series, featuring Greater Palm Springs resident Lori Rodgers. In this series, Lori explores the restaurants, shops, and local business that make our destination unique. To read Lori's recommendations, visit our Love Local page. 

    Additional local campaigns targeting Coachella Valley residents continued in 2023. The Benefits of Tourism and Benefits of Vacation Rentals campaigns include digital, print, and social media advertising with the goal of educating local residents about the benefits that tourism and vacation rental property offerings provide, including essential services like fire and police departments, increased tax revenue for cities, and support of restaurants, business, and local events.

    Benefits of Tourism Campaign

    Workforce Development campaign was also launched to inspire and educate Coachella Valley residents and students about career options in the tourism and hospitality industry in our destination. This campaign is currently running in English and Spanish languages via digital, out-of-home, social media, and radio to reach locals with inspirational stories, job listings and educational opportunities, and information about the benefits of working in the hospitality industry. 

    The Hospitality IndustryLove Local Campaign

     

  • Convention Sales

    Visit GPS has a robust advertising campaign to support meetings and events in the destination, including programs and strategic partnerships with associations, organization, and publications like ASAE, AMEX, CalSAE, Conference Direct, Connect, CVENT, Helms Briscoe, Maritz, Meetings Today, MPI, Northstar Meetings, PCMA, Smart Meetings, and USAE. 

    Digital advertising also runs across Centro and LinkedIn to target meeting planners and decision-makers. 

    In October 2023, VGPS launched a brand new creative campaign - "The Oasis is Real." This campaign includes updated video, imagery, and advertising creative that runs across all media plan deliverables.

If you have any questions about these opportunities or would like to discuss further, please contact:
Dana Fury, Director of Marketing | dana@visitgreaterps.com | 760.969.1345