Palm Springs / virus / end of tourism (# 0451)

One readily visible marker of the impact of the virus on the Palm Springs economy is the masses of unused rental cars parked around the airport and in various other places in the valley. They seem to be parked in every available space.

Why so many cars? February to May is the height of our tourist season. Besides just pleasant weather and nearby desert parks, this is also the time of major tennis and golf events, as well as the Coachella Music festival events -- all drawing 100,000’s of visitors each week. It’s a lot of unused rental cars, which means there’s also massive amounts of vacant resort (and AIRBNB) rooms, empty restaurants, closed bars, etc. AND, a huge number of unemployed service workers.

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Curious about the plane in the center? See later picture.