DIGITAL ANALYTICS

For the reporting period of January & February, there was a notable year-over-year increase of approximately 7% in sessions to the Visit Greater Palm Springs website. A significant contributor to this growth was the campaign for the What Will You Find pages, which saw a YOY user increase of 29% and a session increase of 29%.

The engagement rate during this period was at 448,036 total engaged sessions, up 15.6% YOY.

Furthermore, the website achieved substantial success in terms of partner collaborations and user engagement, with:

• 142,698 partner referrals
• 3,053 visitor guide downloads
• 1,488 e-newsletter sign-ups during these months

​During this period, organic search was the largest source of traffic in this period and made up ~35% of all sessions. This was an 8% growth over the same time period last year, where the industry averaged less than 0.5% growth for this time period.

The January consumer e-newsletter saw a 49.7% email open rate, exceeding the industry average of 35.8%. Along with a 14.1% click to open rate (industry average is 4.4%), this drove a higher than usual amount of engaged traffic to the website during this period.

The February consumer e-newsletter saw a 50.1% email open rate, along with a 13.7% click to open rate. This email open rate is the highest we have ever seen in our newsletter to date. 

In late 2023, a version of the chat widget was pushed live on the Visit Greater Palm Springs website. In January and February, VGPS saw a total of 604 users asked a total of 1,400+ messages. The splash screen that launches the chatbot was updated at the beginning of February, and we have seen an increase in messages from 504 in January to 900+ messages in February.

In January and February, 9 blogs were created and/or updated. A few of the new blogs to the site include: 

1. Discover an Oasis of Wellness: Unique Yoga Experiences in Greater Palm Springs
2. 2024 American Express Golf Preview
3. Exploring the Benefits of Hot Mineral Springs in Greater Palm Springs
4. On Location in Greater Palm Springs
5. Top Dog-Friendly Breweries in Greater Palm Springs
6. The Best Nature Photo Ops in the California Desert
7. 10 Reasons to Visit Greater Palm Springs in 2024
8. The Ultimate Guide to Modernism Week 2024
9. Queer And Now: What Greater Palm Springs’ Rich History Can Offer LGBTQ+ Travelers

LOOKING AHEAD
Looking forward into 2024, the VGPS digital team will continue to grow website traffic, engagement, and conversion metrics through relevant content and optimized campaigns.

Upcoming campaigns include Spring Getaway Offers, which launched March 1; Restaurant Week; and Oasis of Art.

The VGPS app is getting a new overhaul and is in the process of adding a range of new functionality that will enhance the user experience. New features like interactive maps, itinerary building, and check-in features are a few of the exciting aspects that Visit Greater Palm Springs is aiming to launch by end of May.

Below are dashboards showing our year-to-date total website traffic, engagement, and conversion rates.