Palm Springs Airport Seeks New Restaurants, Shops With Local Flare

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Palm Springs International Airport is seeking local restaurants and shops that want to extend their footprint inside the airport, officials announced Tuesday. They hope to increase the "feel" of Palm Springs within the airport walls.

"For the past several years, our airport shops and restaurants have not had a local feel," said Harry Barrett, the airport's executive director of aviation. "With this new contract, we hope to bring in more local options and replicate that Palm Springs vibe that we've all come to love."

Over 2 million travelers pass through the doors of the airport in 2021, as the international airport broke its 7th consecutive monthly passenger record in December. The Total Passenger Count for 2021 was 2,092,943, an increase of 67 percent compared to 2020 during the pandemic. In December of 2020, PSP set its 7th passenger record for the year surpassing the previous record, set in 2018, by 8.6% with 276,527 total passengers.

Now, the airport seeks to give each passenger a feeling that is quintessentially Palm Springs upon their arrival.

Airport officials have requested proposals nationwide, but are emphasizing local businesses. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 22.

The airport is seeking the following qualities:

-- Reflect a high quality of customer experience;
-- Articulate a "sense of place";
-- Provide a mix of local, regional and national brands;
-- Generate revenues to support the airport enterprise;
-- Provide designs to complement the mid-century modern terminal design;
-- Provide uninterrupted service to travelers in all phases of renovation and expansion.

The airport's contract with the current operator ends on April 30, 2023. The RFP seeks five retail locations and five food and beverage locations to be approved and begin construction in May 2023.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held by the airport on July 18 for interested businesses. More information can be found at www.palmspringsca.gov/government/departments/procurement-contracting.

City News Service contributed to this report.