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, Remote Work, and dedicated vacation rental advertising. These campaigns 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 early 2023, Visit GPS also launched an international advertising campaign with Finn Partners in the UK in an effort to reach UK and Ireland travelers. International advertising will expand in 2023 and 2024.
For more details on these campaigns, please expand the individual drawers below.
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Summer Campaign 2023
Visit GPS's annual Summer Chill campaign includes 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 promotes local restaurants in Greater Palm Springs.
For the 2023 season, television co-op partners include 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 2022 as part of the "What Will You Find?" fall and winter campaign. The spots include both generic and market/airline-specific tags in select locations.To view Summer 2023 television spots, please click the Summer Campaign 2023 drawer.
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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.
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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.
This campaign runs year-round with updated creative messaging that is updated seasonally, promoting both hotel and vacation rental stays.
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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.
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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.
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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. -
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 fall/winter season and will resume co-op advertising with Expedia, Sojern, and TripAdvisor for Summer 2022.
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Social Media
Visit Greater Palm Springs continues to bring awareness of Greater Palm Springs as a premier leisure destination through VisitGreaterPS, dineGPS, and VisitCADesert social media channels in 2023.
VGPS is inspiring travel by sharing first-person perspective and User Generated video content on Things to Do, Health & Wellness, Outdoor Adventure, Arts & Culture, Culinary and local happenings as campaign pillars. Other digital campaigns included Restaurant Week, Summer Eats Pass, Getaway Offers, Oasis of Art, and signature events.Awareness campaigns include Benefits of Tourism, Workforce Development, and Remote Work.
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Local Campaigns
The Love Local campaign launched in 2020 with the goal of supporting local business and restaurants during the Covid-19 closure and recovery periods. This included a full media plan promoting local restaurants and retail establishments, as well as attractions and activities via digital advertising, print and digital via The Desert Sun and Palm Springs Life, and local billboards.
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 launched targeting Coachella Valley residents in 2022. 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.
A 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.
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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 2023, VGPS will launch an updated creative campaign - "The Oasis is Real." This campaign will include updated video, imagery, and advertising creative that will run 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