Palm Springs businesses gearing up for Memorial Day weekend

Nearly one-third of the country will be traveling this weekend for Memorial Day and with plenty of sun and great weather in the forecast, Palm Springs will be a prime destination.

Local businesses and visitors are gearing up for the unofficial kickoff of summer. Palm Springs ranks 23rd nationally in Trip Advisor.com’s 2013 Travelers Choice Awards, but don’t tell that to visitors who keep coming back year after year, which have Palm Springs ranked number one.

“I tell everyone about Palm Springs, I do think it would be much higher. I think it’s much better than Florida with the humidity or Hawaii, it’s just really easy to get to,” said Keith Gran visiting from San Diego.

Tourism has increased over the past couple of years.

“It’s been a pretty phenomenal two years. Last year we had over 14% growth and this year to date we are almost at 9% again in the second year in a row and that translates into millions of dollars for Transient Occupancy Tax for Palm Springs,” said Mary Joe Ginther, Director for the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.

More visitors bringing more money to Palm Springs and with something for everyone from outdoor activities to great food, it’s easy to see why people keep coming back.