CONVENTION SALES

The convention sales team started the year strong, booking 38,614 room nights — 37% more than 2023. Total lead distribution was flat compared to last year. New leads, which is a focus for the department, is 7% ahead of goal but behind 14% compared to 2023.

YTD February 2024 sales team productivity:

• 38,614 room nights booked, 112% of goal compared to 28,261 in 2023 and 24,174 in 2022
• 277 total leads distributed, 101% of goal compared to 287 in 2023 and 233 in 2022
• 50 new bookings, 104% of goal compared to 42 in 2023
• 881 new leads, 107% of annual goal compared to 648 in 2019 and 844 in 2022

Greater Palm Springs YTD group occupancy through February is at 25.7%, which is slightly below last year, which was 29.8%.

Average daily group rate YTD continues to grow at $226.85 compared to $213.13 in 2023. This has substantially increased from $177.58 in 2019.

Trips & Travel
Through the end of February, the sales team represented the destination at 4 events: 

• January 7-10 – PCMA San Diego
• January 30-31 – FICP Winter Symposium in Boston
• February 18-24 – MPI Sacramento/ Sierra Nevada Crab Feed
• February 22-23 – CALSAE Insights Executive Summit

Site Visits & FAMs
Firsthand experience of the destination is the best way to increase closure, and this has been a big focus for the Sales and Destination Experiences teams. TYD through end of February, the team conducted 28 site experiences worth 34,860 room nights, which is 7 more sites than in 2023. YTD 6,609 of those room nights turned definite, which is 3,322 more than in 2022 at this same time.

In January the team hosted 23 media and meeting planner professionals for the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Looking forward, the team just hosted a FAM to include BNP Paribas Open, bringing in 13 meeting professionals from various location around the U.S. Highlights during the client visits included attending the BNP Paribas Open, an Aziz Farm culinary experience, and many hotel and convention center site inspections.

As we look forward to March and April, the sales team has 17 trips scheduled, including representation at various third-party annual meetings that include Prestige Global Meeting Source, Maritz Global Source, ConferenceDirect, and Luxury Meetings. Luxury meetings is a new event to identify top-tier corporate, association, and third-party opportunities with a focus in Southern California planners.

Staffing Updates
In March, the Sales team welcomed Ashley Owens as our new National Sales Manager representing the Southeast market and sports. Additionally, our Destination Experiences team welcomed Jackie Vega as our Senior Community Events Manager. Jackie will be responsible for our VGPS community events, such as our meet & sees, golf tournament, Restaurant Week kickoff event, and Champions of Hospitality gala.

Below are dashboards showing our year-to-date non-legacy team production and open tentative leads. An arrow in the upper right-hand corner of a box indicates additional information is available.