Destination 2016: Palm SpringsBy Ken Rivadeneira

Local government couldn’t be more different today. “We are changing with the times,” says Robert Moon, the newly elected mayor of the city of Palm Springs. Moon was a retired IT executive when he moved here in 2001, and he’s excited about the regenerative power of millennials. “People used to come to play golf and tennis and to party long ago, and it’s happening again now,” he says. Moon cites the region’s natural splendor, with three mountain ranges surrounding the Coachella Valley, as one of the biggest attractions for the younger set looking for hiking and biking opportunities. He also seems to have no problem with bikinis. One of the biggest summer tourism draws, he says, is Splash House, two massive pool party weekends in June and August. “It’s amazing how many people can fit in a swimming pool.”

There may be no better indicator of Palm Springs’ appeal among millennials than JetBlue. The airline’s target customer base has always skewed young—executives say it is on average upwardly mobile 25- to 54-year-olds—and this past January, the carrier opened its first route into Palm Springs, a nonstop flight from New York, after examining the market’s potential due to all of its winter and spring events. “It has been a great success. Our flights have been over 80 percent full since we launched the market,” says John Checketts, director of route planning for the airline. “It exceeded our expectations out of the gate.” The seasonal route ended on May 1 and will resume service in November.

Besides festivals and hikes, younger people have other reasons to travel to and live in greater Palm Springs: an expanded California State University campus in Palm Desert, as well as strong income and job growth. These developments have increased the population in the valley and bolstered entrepreneurship, attracting young professionals from communities such as San Francisco.

The millennial effect benefits everyone in the region. The primary residents of greater Palm Springs’ communities such as Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells are affluent baby boomers. But prior to this tourism renaissance, there was a dearth of sophisticated hotels and restaurants in the Coachella Valley. Now there seems to be no end in sight to the hospitality properties being developed, with major and boutique brands all opening locations here within the last few years: Ritz-Carlton, Ace Hotels, Avalon, Arrive. Kimpton will open next year; Virgin Hotels will follow in 2018.

“We have a concentrated downtown,” says Mayor Moon. The city of Palm Springs’ core sat empty for decades, but it is now packed with so many restaurants and lounges that the city provides a trolley service to shuttle visitors to hotels.

All the attention has also attracted luxury developments and brands. Palm Desert has the El Paseo shopping district, with boutiques from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Tiffany. Last year, BMW opened its second U.S. Performance Center at the area’s Thermal Club. Located in the community of Thermal, the club is a car enthusiast’s retreat, with luxury homes attached to a racetrack so residents can easily get on the course and race their high-performance vehicles. After scouting numerous western areas such as Las Vegas and Orange County, the German automaker chose Thermal for its center. “Palm Springs had the best infrastructure for what we wanted,” says Dan Gubitosa, director of the BMW Performance Center. “You have the hotels, restaurants, good cultural events, without that big city feel. It just made a lot of sense.”

This level of luxury is a far cry from what most millennials can afford. Is it risky to bank on such a young demographic? Not according to White. “Millennials are going to want to be homeowners and their priorities change,” he says, despite reports that the Coachella Valley is gentrifying so quickly that millennials wanting to move there could find themselves priced out by higher rents. Another issue with youth-oriented music events is the concern that people come for the music—and little else. Even with its nearly 125 golf courses, greater Palm Springs struggles to attract meetings and conventions. “The cities that make up the Palm Springs area aren’t working with each other as effectively as they should be,” says Jeffrey Adam, director of global accounts for HelmsBriscoe, the world’s largest venue-sourcing company for meetings. To attract a diverse group of travelers, he says, Palm Springs can’t depend on good weather and Bob Hope references. “People don’t know who Bob Hope was anymore. They barely know who Frank Sinatra was.”

Yet the history of the greater Palm Springs area is part of its mystique. Another festival, Desert Trip, has been announced for this October, which will bring together rock icons including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan in what should be a legendary event—for baby boomers. Some people in the media have dubbed it “Oldchella,” but authenticity and history are two things that everyone agrees millennials value, making this a music event that might just bridge the area’s age gap. “Greater Palm Springs has really grown,” says White. “The individuals who are coming here are starting to shape it.”

This article originally appeared in the 2016 June/July issue of Worth.

#WorthDestinations