Visit Greater Palm Springs outlines 2026 priorities and touts Cathedral City tourism impact

Visit Greater Palm Springs officials briefed the Cathedral City council on their 2026 priorities and reported strong tourism metrics for the region and for Cathedral City.

The presentation, led by Scott White of Visit Greater Palm Springs, emphasized the size of the regional industry and local benefits: “In 2024, 14 and a half million visitors visited the valley,” White said, and the presentation reported a total tourism economic impact figure for the Coachella Valley and a Cathedral City-specific impact the slides listed as $609,000,000 for 2024. White also said regional tourism helps reduce local tax burden.

Why it matters: Tourism drives hotel stays, restaurant and retail activity and local job support in Cathedral City. City-specific bookings and tax receipts fund services and can affect how the city plans for events and infrastructure.

Colleen Pace, Visit GPS’s convention-sales lead, said the organization recorded a record year for convention bookings: “The number of rooms we booked is 262,000 plus room nights. That's a record year,” she said, and she reported that Visit GPS generated substantial convention-driven economic impact and leads for Cathedral City — the presentation noted 27 bookings to Cathedral City equating to roughly 10,500 room nights and an estimated TOT and ROI figure tied to the city’s JPA contribution. Pace described ongoing campaigns (16 in 2025) and expanded international and social-media outreach, including new channels in Germany and China and continued Canadian marketing.

Davis Meyer, vice president of government relations, described workforce and community programs: Visit GPS trained 252 destination ambassadors, engaged more than 400 high-school students regionwide, distributed $50,000 in scholarships and continues leadership and hospitality training with College of the Desert. Meyer also summarized an updated feasibility study for an indoor sports complex—cited at about 200,000 square feet—designed to drive off-peak visitation.

Council members asked for follow-up data. Council members pressed Visit GPS on event-level economic estimates (for events such as the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic) and on the extent of Cathedral City student participation in ambassador programs; White and staff said they would follow up with event-specific impact calculations and data from the city’s partner coordinators.

Public comment: Richard Alden, who identified himself as owner of CCBC Resort Hotel in Cathedral City, urged the council to form a local hotel and restaurant association to better promote Cathedral City’s interests within the regional marketing effort; Alden said, “Cathedral City is my blood,” and offered to help coordinate local outreach.

Next steps: White told the council Visit GPS has engaged Hunden Partners to develop a Cathedral City-specific destination stewardship plan and will involve city staff, businesses and residents in surveys and outreach. Council members requested that Visit GPS provide city-specific follow-up estimates for major events.

Sources: presentation to Cathedral City City Council by Visit Greater Palm Springs; public comment at the meeting.