Economic Development

Fostering regional collaboration across the nine cities of the Coachella Valley, the county, and the state in 2023 continued to remain a priority for VGPS in the areas of expanded visitor experiences, workforce development, sustainability, social inclusion and cultural tourism. 

JPA City Grants

In 2023, cities used their JPA Grant awards for new and expanded visitor events including Indian Wells WinterFest, Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival, the Known Gallery Mural Festival, Lunar Festival at The River, Desert Jazz Festival, and Desert WineFest, as well as enhancements to visitor experiences like the Badlands Hiking Trail in Indio. Palm Desert’s grant is going toward a Wayfinding Master Plan, including production and installation of new wayfinding signage throughout the city. Rancho Mirage used some of their funds to support a new sustainability initiative – a grant program for restaurants in the city helping them eliminate single-use plastics and support edible food recovery.

Workforce & Community Engagement

Visit Greater Palm Springs launched several programs in 2023 to support local partners and advance our local workforce, as well as our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.   

TEAM GPS Ambassador Program

• Developed two new social media channels (@TeamGreaterPS) resulting in 14,983 impressions and 4,131 video views, increasing engagement and awareness, supporting local events, and spotlighting hospitality and tourism workforce priorities.
• Supported 98 hospitality employees with scholarships for Emerging Leaders Certificate training through COD. 
• Launched the TEAM GPS Champions Mobile Pass, containing exclusive offers and check-in rewards for TEAM GPS Champions in July 2023. 

Workforce Development

• Conducted focus groups to refine and improve our hospitality careers marketing campaign. 
• Established HR Steering Committee to gain feedback and provide employers tools for training and connections resources available.   
• Raised $141,000 for the Tourism Foundation towards our mission to award scholarships and promote careers in tourism.  
  • Awarded $24,000 in scholarships through partnership with OneFuture Coachella Valley 
  • Awarded $12,000 scholarship to College of the Desert Hospitality Management students study abroad trip to Japan. 
  • In 2023, the Greater Palm Springs Tourism Foundation awarded $22,489 in scholarships for Emerging Leaders Certificate training through a partnership with COD’s PaCE Program. 46 individuals and 52 participants in group classes were supported. The certificate program includes courses designed for hospitality employees new to leadership positions to give them tools and skills to help them succeed and advance their careers. Employers can apply for 2024 scholarships and find the current schedule online at goTEAMgps.com.  

Above: Local high school students receive their scholarship awards at the 2023 Champions of Hospitality Awards & Gala.

Sustainability

• Recognized in a global competition by Green Destinations as being part of their Top 100 Sustainability Stories after completing a rigorous 15-point sustainability check.
• Partnered with Kind Traveler — the first Give + Get hotel booking and education platform that empowers travelers to make a positive impact in the communities they visit — to launch their booking platform. Travelers were given the opportunity to give back to Friends of the Desert Mountains or the LGBTQ Community Center with their reservation and receive "kind offers" from partnered hotels. In 2023, hotel partners included Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa, Azure Sky, Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, and The Good House. This partnership resulted in:
  • 62 media placements
  • 240K campaign website views
  • 10.2M audience reach
  • 15 Kind Traveler Instagram posts
  • 165K social media views,
  • $2,539 in donations to LGBTQ Community Center & Friends of the Desert Mountains (equating to 9,316 meals served at The Center, and 20 youths served with outdoor science STEAM supplies with Friends of the Desert Mountains)

DEI & Cultural Tourism

• We continued to build out content for sustainability, accessibility, and cultural tourism, ensuring that the diversity of the destination is authentically represented:  
  • Launched Native American Culture landing page
  • Launched Community & Culture landing page 
  • Collaborations with diverse content creators
• VGPS was awarded CalTravel’s DEI Champion Award in September 2023 in recognition of our commitment to DEI.  
   
• Executed Phase 3 of our Travel Unity partnership, which included stakeholder engagement: meetings with cities and focus groups with diverse small businesses. 
• Partnered with Caravanserai Project to support 30 Spanish-speaking small business entrepreneurs from across the Coachella Valley with businesses in the tourism and hospitality space.  
  • Hosted a showcase event at the Palm Springs Art Museum in September in partnership with Caravanserai Project to broaden the networks of Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs with small businesses in the tourism & hospitality industry with over 200 partners attending.  
• Launched an initiative to become a Certified Autism Destination, where hotels, restaurants, attractions, events, and cities from across the Coachella Valley are encouraged to become Certified Autism Centers.
  • 11 partners became certified in 2023: The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert, Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory, Variety Children’s Charity of the Desert, Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs, FARM, Tac/Quila, The Front Porch, Clandestino, and the City of Palm Desert.  

Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week 2023

Restaurant Week returned June 2-13, 2023 with 86 restaurants participating from all 9 cities and over $500k in media value supporting the event.  

• 247 million TV impressions 
• 20.4 million radio impressions 
• 4,304 reservations made through dineGPS.com 
• 32 media placements resulting in over 24 million impressions 
• Social media influencer FAM resulted in over 332K video views 

Presenting Partner Agua Caliente Casinos hosted the restaurant week kickoff event May 31, 2023 at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage with over 250 partners and 32 media attending. 

CLICK HERE for the full 20243 Restaurant Week Recap Report.

Champions of Hospitality 2023

More than 650 hospitality professionals, students, and their families from across the Coachella Valley gathered to celebrate the spirit of Greater Palm Springs tourism at the 2023 Champions of Hospitality Gala held on October 30 at Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. 
 
The event raised more than $90,000 through sponsorships, silent auction, and donations. At the event, the Greater Palm Springs Tourism Foundation awarded $24,000 in scholarships to four college students from across the Coachella Valley and five seniors from Coachella Valley High School’s Hospitality Academy.

NBC Palm Springs morning anchor Thalia Hayden and Telemundo 15 news anchor and reporter Hernan Quintas emceed the gala, which drew more than 175 nominations across a variety of categories. Twenty individuals were recognized with the Hospitality Award for enriching the overall visitor experience by providing exceptional customer service and hospitality. Special recognition was made to seven individuals considered to be rising stars in the local tourism industry with the San Jacinto Rising Star Award.

The Palm Award was presented to five individuals/organizations who elevate the Greater Palm Springs brand and inspire more visitors to the destination by consistently ensuring extremely high-quality guest services, unique experiences, or customer value.

Two special awards were made to recognize those making a significant impact in the areas of Sustainability and Diversity. The City of La Quinta was the recipient of the Oasis Award for Sustainability for its program of working with every dining establishment in the city on composting. Nathan Kelleher, Guest Relations and Club Lounge Manager at The Ritz Carlton, Rancho Mirage, was presented the Santa Rosa Diversity Award for developing programs that support the LGBTQ+ community in the hospitality industry in the Coachella Valley.

The culminating award of the event, the Spirit of Tourism Award, was presented to Tim Lieweke, CEO of Oak View Group/Acrisure Arena, to recognize his embodiment of the spirit of tourism in the valley and his diligent work to move the overall industry forward in both actions and spirit.

View the full list of 2023 winners here.

Click on the video below for a recap of the event.

Partnership Events 2023

Monthly Meet & Sees and other networking and educational events gave partners an opportunity to experience new venues and network with our hospitality community. Thank you to our 2023 Meet & See hosts: 

• Acrisure Arena 
• Mary Pickford Theatre is D'Place 
• The Paloma Resort 
• Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City 
• La Quinta Brewing Co. - Palm Desert 
• V Wine Lounge & Martini Bar 
• Palm Springs Art Museum 
• Dave & Buster's