$1.75 million in pandemic relief helping Coachella Valley Tourism approved by Riverside County Board of Supervisors

The 'Tourism Recovery Campaign' was approved on Tuesday, allocating over a million dollars to Visit Greater Palms Springs.

Kimberly Wright of the Riverside County office of Economic Development tells News Channel 3 that newly allocated pandemic relief funds will support the Coachella Valley in a number of ways.

Wright shared, "It will help by one, creating new partnerships and programs that will help bring businesses and meetings back to the Coachella Valley and to the county. That money will also be used toward leisure recovery advertising, such as billboards and TV did other digital campaigns."

One of those campaigns focusing on local businesses and restaurants. According to Wright, "It's helped expand the love local series, which helps drive businesses specifically to Coachella Valley restaurants and retailers.”

A study conducted by Visit California found that the pandemic cut down tourism in Riverside County by almost 40 percent.

This resulted in a 3.5 billion dollar loss on top of the job shortage for those working in the hospitality industry.

Wright told us this recovery campaign would aim to recuperate those losses, "The hospitality industry in Riverside County has produced about as close to 87,000 direct jobs. And because of COVID, an estimated 90% of those jobs have been affected. So we of course, hope to see that 19% jobs, which comes out to close to 17,000 jobs, be able to grow and come back to its full capacity."

The funds for the 'Tourism Recovery Campaign' were originally COVID relief funds that were reallocated towards tourism.

Wright hopes locals will continue to practice safety measures alongside the new efforts to boost tourism in the area, "We know that visitors and residents alike are going to want to begin or increase their travel and we go to restaurants and we see that they're busy and crowded. It almost feels like COVID isn't a thing. And we of course wish it wasn't, but we just strongly encourage all of our businesses, all of our residents, all our is our visitors to follow public health guidelines and always stay in line and safe that way.” 

Ultimately the Riverside Board of Supervisors predicts the 'Recovery Fund' will continue to encourage growth and recovery for tourism in the Coachella Valley.

Click HERE for information regarding the Board of Supervisors' decision to approve $2.16 million in federal COVID relief funds be distributed to organizations that promote tourism in Riverside County.