Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza Named Indigenous Destination of the Year

The Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza has been honored as the Indigenous Destination of the Year by the American Indigenous Tourism Association — a national honor that recognizes the Tribe’s cultural heritage destination for its authenticity, visitor experience, and economic impact.

The Tribe received this recognition in October during the Excellence in Indigenous Tourism Awards Gala at the American Indigenous Tourism Association’s annual American Indigenous Tourism Conference in Choctaw, Mississippi. The organization, dedicated to advancing cultural tourism in Native Nations and communities across the United States, cited the Tribe’s commitment to sharing the history, heritage, and contemporary life of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians at the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza.

Spread across 5.8 acres in downtown Palm Springs, the Cultural Plaza is anchored by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and The Spa at Séc-he that celebrates the Tribe’s sacred Hot Mineral Spring. The spring, known in the Cahuilla language as Séc-he, meaning “the sound of boiling water,” has served as a source of community for the Agua Caliente people since time immemorial. The Tribe has welcomed visitors to the Hot Mineral Spring for nearly 150 years, making it the area’s first tourist attraction.

The destination also features the Gathering Plaza and Oasis Trail, an immersive landscape of flowing water, rock formations, and stands of Washingtonia filifera palms — the only palm native to California’s deserts — that echo the Tribe’s ancestral homelands in Tahquitz Canyon and the Indian Canyons.

At the Cultural Plaza, the Museum offers interpretive exhibits, educational programs, and events that illuminate the Tribe’s traditions. At The Spa at Séc-he, visitors encounter both the ancient waters of the Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring and modern wellness: 22 private soaking tubs, salt caves, float pods, saunas, and outdoor pools — all complemented by health-focused cuisine at Málmal Café and Pál Bar.

To be named Indigenous Destination of the Year, a site must deliver an exceptional visitor experience, incorporate interpretive programming, foster sustainability of cultural heritage, and demonstrate economic impact. American Indigenous Tourism Association officials said the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza excelled across all measures, weaving authenticity and innovation in a way that connects travelers with Native American culture while strengthening the local economy.

For the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the recognition affirms what the Tribe has long known: that the Hot Mineral Spring and surrounding ancestral lands are central to its cultural identity.

Agua Caliente Cultural Paza

100 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
aguacalienteculturalplaza.com