Pasadena-based Software Company Provides Precise Insights on Visitor Patterns as Global Travel Picks Up

A Southern California city which saw its tourism trade drop by 54% and revenues shrivel by billions during the pandemic has turned to a Pasadena company to better understand its customer base and revive its local economy.

Pasadena company Near will provide data to Greater Palm Springs, the official tourism marketing agency for the Coachella Valley, about where the valley’s domestic and international travelers are coming from to help it better leverage tourism recovery in the wake of COVID-19, said a release by Near.

As travel continues to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, Near data is also helping to track visitor or traveler consumer behavior to understand where visitors are dining, shopping, and the attractions they are visiting, the release added.

By identifying the most common countries of origin for international travelers, Greater Palm Springs knew where to better allocate its resources to draw more tourists and help compensate for events canceled due to the pandemic. The agency said this strategy helped lead to full occupancy by summer 2021.

“Our partnership with Near has provided our organization with quality data to validate strategy and resource allocation along with gaining new insights into visitor profiles, originating source markets, and their movements within the destination,” said Gary Orfield, Director of Tourism Development at Greater Palm Springs.

According to the Greater Palm Springs, the tourist destination attracts over 14 million visitors annually, with 6.4 million of visitors staying overnight.

One out of every five jobs in the Greater Palm Springs area is supported by tourism, according to the organization. In 2019, 14.1 million people visited Greater Palm Springs for a total economic impact of $7.5 billion, according to reporting by News Channel 3.

With the pandemic, the region saw direct spending reduced by $3.4 billion, a 54-percent drop, the release claimed.

Data from Near also helped the Greater Palm Springs team collaborate with the airline network planners on routes, leading to validated recommendations for building new airline routes or extending routes for certain seasons. In part due to these recommendations, Palm Springs International Airport has set 10 monthly records since June 2022, the agency said.

With Near-provided intelligence from regional airports, Greater Palm Springs was able to understand what U.S. port of entry visitors were coming from and where they were going once they left the airport. The agency said this has resulted in a better understanding of international markets and increased growth during the summer months.

Under a partnership agreement, Near is providing Greater Palm Springs its Tourism Dashboard and Origin Market Length of Stay datasets, created specifically for analyzing the tourism market both for the company and for their industry partners.

“Near is empowering Greater Palm Springs with the data and insights it needs to make strategic business decisions that will help increase its ROI and the overall tourist experience,” Anil Mathews, Founder and CEO at Near, said. “Near is the gold standard in the tourism industry and we are delighted to empower destination marketing organizations (DMOs) of all sizes as well as cities and states around the world with our people and places data to make them more competitive.”

Headquartered in Pasadena, Near curates large sources of intelligence on people, places, and products, and processes data from over 1.6 billion unique user IDs in over 70 million places across 44 countries.

Near has offices in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Paris, Bangalore, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo, and serves major enterprises in retail, real estate, restaurants, tourism, technology, marketing, and other industries.

For more information, visit www.near.com.