Business View Magazine - September 2016 93
vention business is so important to our destination.
As far as weddings and those types of social events,
we’re competing with the 100-plus country clubs that
are associated with each of the golf courses that are
out here. There’s so much competition for weddings
and other social types of business.” What fills out the
rest of the Center’s 100 to 120 yearly events calendar
are local fundraisers and major events, such as the
Palm Springs International Film Festival, a two-week
affair that takes place every January.
Regarding its regional competition, Leson says that be-
cause of the climate and other similarities, the Center
competes heavily with Phoenix and other Arizona des-
tinations for business, and to a lesser extent, with San
Diego and Anaheim. “We generally believe that we are
not competing with any convention centers in northern
California, though,” he says. “It’s rather a sharing of
clients because of the association groups that do a
north/south rotation – they’re north one year and then
south the next year.”
