If you thought Greater Palm Springs couldn’t get any greater, think again.
This sunny SoCal meeting oasis entered the new year hot with air service updates, new and renovated properties ready to host, and a list of upcoming developments to look forward to in 2026 and beyond.
Here’s the latest meeting and event news to know in Greater Palm Springs.
Air Service Updates
“We are absolutely thrilled about the continued expansion of our air service to Palm Springs International Airport [PSP],” said Colleen Pace, chief sales and marketing officer, Visit Greater Palm Springs.
In December, PSP introduced new nonstop flights from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), and for the second year, the airport is offering a seasonal nonstop flight to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), which started December 18, giving East Coast meeting planners and business travelers greater access to the destination.
New nonstop routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) and Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) were introduced last fall.
“Combining this with our existing nonstops, we have over 30 nonstop routes into Greater Palm Springs, including Canadian cities,” Pace said. “And we’re super excited to continue to grow air service and visitation to our destination.”
New and Renovated Hotels and Resorts
From a property POV, there’s a lot happening in Greater Palm Springs, adding to the list of enhancements hotels and resorts across the destination completed in recent years.
“We’re always evolving here in Greater Palm Springs, and we’ve done some really exciting renovations over the past couple of years,” Pace said. “Some of our most iconic properties are offering some upgraded amenities, meeting spaces, dining accommodations.”
The 560-room Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa, Indian Wells is one such property, having completed a renovation at the end of that year that features a redesigned lobby and meeting space inspired by the resort’s surrounding desert landscape, like the 16,500-square-foot Esmeralda Ballroom.
“It also features a new gastropub restaurant, Topgolf Swing Suites and state-of-the-art pickleball courts,” Pace added.
Situated on a private, 13-acre estate, Parker Palm Springs, part of Leading Hotels of the World—a curated collection of some of the world’s most exclusive, independent luxury hotels—expanded its leisure sports offerings with the addition of padel courts, a new trending racket sport that’s a blend of tennis and squash.
“They have just built a new amphitheater for intimate gatherings, performances and demonstrations,” Pace said. “So, that’s another really exciting enhancement to one of our iconic resorts.”
The amphitheater seats 130 guests, and Parker Palm Springs also offers 12,000 square feet of indoor space and 140,000 square feet outdoors, including a 100,000-square-foot lawn.
In 2026, La Quinta Resort & Club, a Curio Collection by Hilton property, enters its 100th year, celebrating a century of serving as one of Greater Palm Springs’ most storied and iconic “Hollywood hideaways.”
“They have refreshed guest rooms; they have a new revitalized lobby, enhanced landscaping, pools, public spaces that really enhance the mountain views and expanded dining offerings,” Pace said.
The resort offers nearly 800 guest rooms and 190,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, including the 16,940-square-foot Fiesta Ballroom with a capacity for up to 1,800 guests.
“And then also in 2026, the Riviera [Resort & Spa] Palm Springs, which is one of our iconic properties, is returning with a new vision and a restoration bringing it back to its Mid-Century Modern, sort of Hollywood, theme,” Pace said. “It hosted performances by the Rat Pack and people like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.”
The storied property features 398 guest rooms, Palm Springs’ largest resort spa—Sante Spa—and more than 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Palm Springs Convention Center Upgrades
The City of Palm Springs in September announced it’s moving forward with the highly anticipated renovation and expansion of the Palm Springs Convention Center (PSCC), a $125 million project that will be delivered in three stages and is slated for completion by 2030.
Stage 1 will focus on interior renovations, facility upgrades and critical capital projects. Stage 2 will expand the convention center’s eastern entrance to increase capacity for large-scale and outdoor events, and Stage 3 features a master plan updated and neighborhood improvements including pedestrian, multimodal and streetscape upgrades.
“The modernization effort is designed to ensure the Palm Springs Convention Center (PSCC)—a cornerstone of the city’s tourism and hospitality economy since 1984—remains a premier regional and national destination for conferences, exhibitions and community events,” reads a news post by the City of Palm Springs. “The project will…improve multipurpose and outdoor meeting space capacity, enhance sustainability and strengthen connections between the convention center, downtown Palm Springs and surrounding neighborhoods.”
Connection
This article was created in collaboration with Visit Greater Palm Springs.
