Tourism up with more flights to the Valley
It’s getting easier to travel to Palm Springs with new flights and tourists are taking advantage. More people are choosing the Valley as a vacation destination.
“I think it’s beautiful, I enjoy it every time we come out here,” said Jellybean Johnson, a musician in the Valley playing with the group “The Time.”
The Palm Springs International Airport is busier than ever.
“We are just coming down for fun for a week,” said visitor Chet Kenoyer.
Ten airlines operate out of Palm Springs including Jet Blue’s new flight direct to JFK in New York. Virgin also just announced it’s non-stop flights to San Francisco will now be year round.
“We are really excited that these two great airlines are coming into our destination,” said Ashlee Ciora, Vice President of Travel for the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
With all of the new flights its now easier than ever to get to the Coachella Valley.
We found peoplevisitingfrom Canada, Colorado, Minnesota and Washington.
The travelers we spoke with all agreed on the Valley’s number one appeal.
“The weather is just phenomenal,” said Pete Cordova.
“The pool and the sun,” said Janis Gustafson.
“Besides being sunny, it’s really green, people are friendly great food, it’s not too big,” said Kenoyer.
The Valley’s many events are also a big draw. Modernism Week, going on until Sunday, brought in nearly 60,000 people last year.
“There’s a lot of these key signature events. I know BNP is coming up, that is going to be event for bringing in thousands of visitors as well as Fashion Week,” said Ciora.
President Obama’s visit and the ASEAN Summit this week is opening up the desert to a whole new market in Asia.
“Uk, Germany, Australia, China, those are markets we are going into and being very proactive because those visitors are coming not only right now but also in the summer time,” said Ciora.
The new Arrive hotel is not only offering people a place to stay, it’s also attracting more visitors.
“You have a lot of those boutique hotels those lifestyle hotels that are coming in bringing in a different customer that you might have not seen before that has kind of that Palm Springs vibe to it,” said Ciora.
