Each year, two world-famous mega events descend on Palm Springs and the cities of the Coachella Valley: the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April) and the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament (March). Together, these events host about 1 million attendees and have an estimated economic impact of $2 billion on the destination.
But even as they continue to break records and generate buzz year after year, these events are outliers to the main meetings and events business of Greater Palm Springs (GPS) happening year-round.
“Sports, events and government meetings collectively represent a smaller but steady portion of the overall mix,” said Carolina Viazcan, vice president of sales for Visit Greater Palm Springs. “That balance across segments helps provide stability and flexibility throughout the year. [We’re] very much a mixed-market destination, with corporate and association business leading the way.”
Corporate meetings currently represent about 41% of GPS business, “driven largely by teams seeking high-impact offsites, leadership meetings and incentive-style programs,” Viazcan said. “Associations account for approximately 38%, reflecting the destination’s ability to support both large-scale conventions and more intimate gatherings across a variety of venues.”
What these meetings share with mega events is attendees’ passion for experiences they “simply cannot get on a screen,” Viazcan said. “There is growing demand for hands-on, participatory programming that allows people to engage, contribute and create together, whether through wellness, culinary, cultural or outdoor experiences that go beyond a traditional ballroom setting.”
Planners are right to feel challenged when few corporations and associations can lay out operational budgets close to those of Coachella or BNP Paribas. But instead of making it all about the bottom line, what if planners looked to these events for inspiration?
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What Would Coachella Do?
To reach their size and popularity, mega events have had to solve the same problems every meeting planner faces by flexing and thinking outside the obvious limitations. Here are some examples:
Glamp It Up
Glamping has been a trend in the Coachella area, but the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals have been taking it to the next level. During the festival, Coachella vendor Valley Music Travel provides fully furnished, air-conditioned tents for the Safari Campground and luxury yurts for the Resort at Coachella, which feature private bathrooms and showers. Tents and yurts are also available through Marriott’s Bonvoy program, a surprising feature to consider for organizations that build points into the budget.
Between January and April is the best time to be outdoors, with March optimal. For attendees who love dark skies and stars, a tented night in Joshua Tree National Park may be an experience to remember. If tent rental is unavailable, the nearby AutoCamp Joshua Tree features Airstreams and classic cabins.
For the less adventurous, Greater Palm Springs has plenty of outdoor activities.
“Guided hikes,” suggested Viazcan, “Jeep tours along the San Andreas Fault, golf, tennis and pickleball.”
Then there are newer, high-energy experiences like cycling on the latest, traffic-free CVLink and surf-based programming (at the Palm Springs Surf Club) to add “an unexpected teambuilding element.”
Moveable Feasts
What’s wonderful about the Coachella Valley is the number of restaurants, venues and shopping outlets in the area, making it a dynamic economy. But with a mega event like the BNP Paribas Open, the logistics of moving thousands of attendees back and forth from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden would be onerous, at the very least.
Which is why the Tennis Garden creates an onsite Village each year, in which attendees can sample the many dining options of the Coachella Valley (including an onsite Nobu at the Stadiums 1 and 2 level), drink fancy tipples and microbrews, purchase high-end athleticwear and watch name acts on the Village Stage.
Planners with similar constraints can use the Village template to stage their own “Coachella-in-a-Box” concept at any of the Valley’s larger venues, including the Palm Springs Convention Center and outdoor hotel plazas. Many area restaurants, like Chef Tanya’s Kitchen, offer catering.
Go Local
Behind the scenes at Coachella and the BNP Paribas Open, hundreds of local vendors make things happen. And after the mega festival and tennis tournament, they’re here to assist with all the other meetings and events.
“Around Coachella, we do a lot of activations for brands for pre-Coachella events valley-wide, then for onsite events and after-parties—lots of stuff at private estates!” said Kate Lee Minelian, owner of Studio Kate Floral. “For BNP [Paribas Open], I’ve done small activations at the event for alcohol brands, in-suite flowers for players and lobby decor for the hotels where they stay.”
Meetings and events taking place in larger hotels employ onsite staff to help build these programs. But when meeting at smaller, limited-service properties, it can’t hurt to work with the CVB or DMO to develop an awareness of a group’s spending potential among independent vendors. When onsite, people who come in groups want/need to take advantage of local vendors such as hairdressers, beauticians, masseurs and yoga instructors to customize their experience. For example, Khaga Yoga Palm Springs has a location in downtown Palm Springs and also offers custom offsite programs in yoga, meditation and sound healing, according to instructor Nina Sadhana.
“Groups come here because it’s easy to build a program that feels like a reward,” Viazcan said. “Wellness has become a strategic part of programs, with movement, recovery, sleep and mental reset now commonly built into agendas. Content that feels local continues to resonate, with planners wanting the desert setting, culture, food and design woven into the meeting experience.”
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Second Act of a Golf Course
The Greater Palm Springs area is said to have upwards of 130 golf courses. So many that these pieces of super-manicured “oases” are accepted as an essential part of the destination landscape.
So, it was surprising when the former Mesquite Golf Course began looking a little “wild.”
Technically, the term is “rewilding,” the process by which cultivated land is returned to its natural state. In July 2022, conservation organization Oswit Land Trust acquired the golf course to develop the now-120-acre Prescott Preserve in the middle of Palm Springs.
“Across the country, older golf courses that have sort of lived their life are starting to go out of business,” said David Paisley, community engagement director, crew coordinator and deputy director of Oswit Land Trust. “Sometimes this land becomes housing, sometimes public parks. For Palm Springs, the decision was made to turn Prescott Preserve into a nature preserve, because its location was along Tahquitz Creek, which is a natural water source flowing from Tahquitz Canyon.”
Usually, nature preserves are hours away from the meeting site, or at least out of town, like fellow preserve Oswit Canyon (also available), but Prescott Preserve is only minutes from the Palm Springs Convention Center by car or bike.
“Typically, our group tours or hikes would be 12 to 15 people, and we could do multiple hikes in the same day, if that’s desirable,” Paisley said. “And if a larger group wanted someone to come in and talk about Palm Springs, wildlife and the natural surroundings, that’s something else we could do in their meeting space.”
Many animals, including bobcats, coyotes, rabbits and more, inhabit the preserve. On the tour, groups are likely to see a plethora of birdlife, but probably only the footprints of mostly nocturnal creatures.
“There are hundreds of birds,” noted Paisley. “I’ve had lots of tours of Prescott Preserve, and only once have I seen a coyote.”
NOTE: On February 1, a fire at Prescott Preserve affected 3.5 acres of the 120-acre preserve. It is still open to the public.
