A Year In Review

Welcome to the 2024 Annual Report of Visit Greater Palm Springs (VGPS). This comprehensive overview details our destination's marketing and tourism efforts to promote our destination to the world while improving the quality of life for our residents and partners.

We are continuing to publish the report online to support our commitment to sustainability.

Below, you’ll find a summary of key areas of our operations. For more detailed insights, including additional statistics, trends, and analysis, please explore the departmental sections through the navigation links on the right for desktop users or below for mobile viewers.

2024 Overview

Visit Greater Palm Springs celebrated a year of remarkable achievements, strategic growth, and strengthened partnerships in 2024. Through innovative marketing campaigns, enhanced air service, and targeted sales efforts, we solidified our position as a premier travel destination worldwide while driving economic growth and community engagement. From surpassing room night goals to launching transformative initiatives like the Escape Your Ordinary brand campaign and expanding workforce development programs, 2024 was a year of meaningful progress.

With the direction of its Board of Directors and JPA Committee, VGPS had established the following Priority Areas of Focus for the destination in 2024:

Growing the Tourism Economy

Leisure Marketing – Domestic & International
Attract New Meetings, Conventions & Events
Develop Demand for Need Periods, Leisure & Group
Develop Research / Measure Impact & Effectiveness
Vacation Rentals
Educate Community & Homeowners
Develop Best Practices

Regional Collaboration

Grow Air Service & Support New Transportation Options
DEI, Sustainability, Accessibility, Cultural Heritage
Workforce Development / TEAM GPS
Diversify Regional Economy
Advocacy

In 2025, the board further refined our 2-year goals through 2026. You can view those goals HERE.

2024 Accomplishments

Last year, Visit Greater Palm Springs (VGPS) executed a dynamic, multi-channel advertising strategy that generated 30 billion impressions across key drive and fly markets. Anchored by the innovative Escape Your Ordinary campaign and bolstered by strong partnerships, these efforts significantly enhanced brand visibility and engaged diverse audiences. This strategic approach not only elevated Greater Palm Springs as a premier travel destination but also supported stakeholders, deepened community connections, and drove year-round demand.

Vacation rentals were integrated throughout our overall marketing campaigns. Vacation rentals remained a vital component of our marketing strategy in 2024, with targeted campaigns and creative innovations driving significant engagement and bookings. These efforts not only showcased the unique offerings of vacation rentals but also reinforced Greater Palm Springs as a diverse and welcoming destination for all types of travelers.

Convention Sales ended the year with a strong pace going into 2025. Strategic focus on group business during the summer months delivered remarkable results, demonstrating the effectiveness of targeted sales efforts and collaboration with partners. Highlights include:

The Convention Sales team surpassed the 2024 room night goal at 115%, achieving 237,182 room nights (goal: 207,000).
Strategic summer focus yielded 46,676 room nights (vs. 23,769 in 2023), with 21,852 of these booked into 2025.
The Destination Services team conducted 135 site visits representing 184,089 room nights, resulting in 74 group bookings and 85,493 room nights.

The PR/Communications team also excelled, delivering remarkable media coverage, with 169 articles published across prominent platforms such as Forbes, The New York Times, and Shermans Travel. By establishing 84 media touchpoints, delivering 53 tailored pitches, supporting 25 media during their visits to the destination, and hosting 30 location scouts, the team further solidified Greater Palm Springs’ reputation as a world-class destination.

The Marketing and Communications teams generated key activations that greatly enhanced our exposure domestically and internationally:

Live with Kelly & Mark: Partnered on four live shows at The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa, garnering 8.9M viewers and $17M in ad value.
London Design Festival: Showcased Greater Palm Springs with an innovative exhibit featuring Studio Mama and Mattel’s Barbie, earning 22 media placements and 39M in circulation.
NCAA – Acrisure Series: Sponsored the high-profile Thanksgiving weekend series, featuring 21 teams and 19 games with in-arena branding and commercials, driving destination awareness.

VGPS launched the region's first effort to diversify our local economy. The Economic Development team completed the following initiatives in 2024:

Hired North Star Place Branding + Marketing to develop a robust marketing and communications strategy to support economic development initiatives.
Identified key economic development industry clusters to guide strategic priorities.
Conducted focus groups, interviewed stakeholders, conducted surveys of business leaders both in and out of market to understand current perceptions and opportunities.
Formed a creative committee to collaborate on naming, branding, and creative design for the economic development strategy.
Established a Technical Advisory Committee with representatives from each JPA member city and the county.
Facilitated ongoing communication with the TAC to share information, obtain feedback, and identify opportunities.

The VGPs team continued to expand and enhance our efforts for workforce development, sustainability, cultural tourism and youth engagement and developed a new regional legislative platform. Outlined below are a few highlights from the Tourism Foundation:

Raised $178,000 to support showcasing the diversity of hospitality careers to youth and offering workforce training opportunities for growth and advancement. Trained 25 participants in the Emerging Leaders and online TEAM GPS Champions courses.
Supported 67 participants through the Tourism/Hospitality Professional Career Accelerator program, including TEAM GPS Online, Customer Service, and Fostering Inclusion for Hospitality courses.
Awarded $36,500 in scholarships for college students through a partnership with OneFuture Coachella Valley.
Provided $12,000 for College of the Desert Hospitality Management students to study abroad in Japan.
Allocated $7,500 for Emerging Leaders training.
Launched a 6-week Leadership Program for six Coachella Valley High School students, offering.

PSP achieved significant success in 2024, setting five monthly passenger records in February, March, April, May, and December. Overall, more than 3.2 million passengers enplaned and deplaned, with airlines maintaining an impressive average load factor of over 75%.

New nonstop flights and expanded service brought even more options in 2024 for both residents and visitors:

VGPS partnered with United Airlines and introduced for the first time, seasonal, daily service from Washington, D.C. (IAD)
Frontier Airlines resumed year-round service from Denver (DEN) and San Francisco (SFO)
Porter Airlines added new seasonal nonstop flights from Toronto (YYZ)
Delta Air Lines launched service from New York (JFK) and shifted the start of its Atlanta (ATL) to PSP route to November, a month earlier than in previous years
Alaska moved their JFK flight up to October versus December in 2023
American added a daily flight to Dallas (DFW) in February and March
Avelo extended Stanta Rosa (STS) throughout the summer
Delta began Minneapolis (MSP) in September versus October

In Summary

With effective destination marketing, maintaining robust communications and public relations; attracting group business; focusing on tourism, workforce, and economic development; and optimizing air service connectivity, Visit Greater Palm Springs continued its momentum in successfully positioning itself worldwide in as a top Southern California destination.

We invite you to explore the detailed information provided in this report to gain a deeper understanding of Visit Greater Palm Springs' strategies and achievements in 2024.