A California Tribe is Turning Palm Springs into a Casino Hot Spot, Starting at the Airport

Agua Caliente casinos will feature prominently in the visitor experience upon arrival at the Palm Springs, California, airport, in a first-of-its-kind naming deal between a tribal casino and an airport. (Image: courtesy of Palm Springs International Airport)

Palm Springs may not be the first desert city in the West that comes to mind when someone asks about a fun place to gamble that’s a breeze to get to. But after some bold moves by a tribe that has called the area home for millenia, it could become the second. 

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who own and operate three casino-spa-resorts in the area, entered into a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Palm Springs International Airport to rename one of its two concourses and take over virtually all signage inside. 

“[Agua Caliente] was interested and they came to us and we thought it’d be great to partner with the tribe,” Daniel Meier, PSP airport’s deputy director of aviation, marketing & air service told Casinos.com. “They’re local. They’re important.” 

A naming rights deal was struck in December, for three years and just over $1.4 million. Shortly after the new year in January the first signage began to go up, rebranding the previously nameless regional jet concourse as the Agua Caliente Concourse, with nine of the airport’s 20 gates.

Airport officials say that by spring and summer the branding overhaul will be complete. Regional visitors will step off their planes and step into an immersive Agua Caliente experience, where they will be inundated with reminders that California casino action and spa-resort amenities await them.

And Palm Springs, visitors will be reminded, can hold its own as a gaming destination – one that offers a more relaxed alternative to its formidable neighbor in southern Nevada four hours to the north.  

No one arriving at Palm Springs International will be unfamiliar with the Agua Caliente.
(Click to enlarge)

Rebranding Palm Springs

The airport’s branding makeover will highlight Agua Caliente’s three casino properties – in Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and downtown Palm Springs. 

Beyond offering a place to gamble, these casinos present themselves as part of the relaxation, healing and self-care that bring people to Palm Springs. 

“Overall, Palm Springs is an outdoor destination,” Meier says. “It’s hiking trails, it’s golf. It’s architecture. It’s dining outside.” 

And soon that experience could be more likely to include gambling – an image that would start at the airport.  Meier says there will be new signage and seating and “a full experience of who the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians are.”  

“It’s a space that can really make it about them and represent their brand,” Meier says. The concourse displays also will feature tributes and artifacts from the tribe’s more than 10,000 years of history in the area. 

The Agua Caliente reservation consists of 600 acres of tribal land that includes the airport, which is owned and operated by the city. Agua Caliente Casinos CEO Saverio R. Scheri III considers his properties “the ultimate Coachella Valley destination for gaming and entertainment.” 

He said in December, “This incredible partnership with the Palm Springs International Airport allows us to make an even greater first impression and share more about everything Agua from the moment travelers enter the airport.” 

The Agua Caliente Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs is a centerpiece of the gaming and non-gaming experience the tribe is trying to provide. (Image: Mark Kanning / Alamy)

Casino Accolades, Travel Surges

If an airport concourse deal doesn’t sound like a headline grabber, consider this: there are big things in the offing and Palm Springs as a destination in general, and PSP and the Agua Caliente tribe are positioning themselves to be at the focal point.  

The casinos are not only garnering more visitors each year, but more accolades as well. In 2023, Agua Caliente Casino Rancho Mirage earned a trio of Forbes Travel Guide awards, including a five-star rating for its Sunstone Spa and the Steakhouse at the casino took home a four-star rating from the publication as well.  

The Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage offered even more of a relaxing getaway. (Image: Steve Cukrov / Alamy)

The Agua Caliente Casino in Cathedral City opened in November 2020, with new entertainment offerings. (Image: courtesy of Agua Caliente Casinos)

The tribe’s increase in high-end offerings mirrors that of the Coachella Valley at-large. Travelers continue to flock to Palm Springs via plane in numbers that have quadrupled since the 1980s. Last year saw a record-setting 3.2 million visitors coming through the airport. Officials estimate those numbers could double by 2042. 

Due to high demand, the airport is also in the early planning stages for a $2.2 billion expansion that would add two more concourses.

“It’s a growing airport and a growing destination,” Meier says. “Like other outdoor destinations we benefited from the pandemic. People came to visit and then stayed. And now we’re growing to [meet] that demand.” 

But with a new emphasis on gaming opportunities as soon as people set foot inside the Palm Springs airport terminal, is the California desert region aiming to be the next Vegas?   

Meier, who moved to the Coachella Valley from Las Vegas in 2020, says his former hometown has its own entertainment draws as “a major, major metro.” 

Palm Springs, however, with its reputation as a place to rejuvenate and a gateway to vast outdoor spaces, creates what he describes as a post-Vegas respite. 

“People who go and party too hard in Vegas can come here and relax,” Meier said with a small laugh. “We’re a small town but that doesn’t mean we can’t match the offerings of a big destination.”