Long-time community leader Aftab Dada, the general manager of the Hilton Palm Springs and Chairman of P.S. Resorts, a local consortium of large hotels charged with promoting tourism and special events in Palm Springs, including bringing the wildly popular Forever Marilyn sculpture and the hugely successful Tachevah Block Party to downtown, will receive the 365th Golden Palm Star along the City’s world famous Walk of Stars on Thursday, March 27.
The 3 p.m. ceremony in front of Pomme Frite, 256 S. Palm Canyon Drive, will be emceed Tim Ellis, general manager of the Palm Mountain Resort with the star presented by Mayor Steve Pougnet. Aftab Dada, a 37-year veteran of the hotel industry, serves on the Board of Directors of the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce and was named the Chamber’s Businessperson of the Year in 2011. He was also instrumental in the $40 million expansion of the Palm Springs Convention Center in 2002 and since 2003 has been an executive board member of the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau influential Hospitality and Business Industry Council. Dada also helped successfully stop a controversial proposed hub jail near the gateway to Palm Springs in 2011. A member of the City’s Measure J Commission, he is a strong supporter of the measure, a 1 cent sales tax increase passed by voters in 2011, which will raise an anticipated $200 million over the next 25 years for downtown revitalization and capital improvement projects throughout the city.
In 2012, as Chairman of P.S. Resorts, Dada also played a key role with city leaders in bringing the wildly popular Forever Marilyn sculpture to downtown and partnered with the City, Goldenvoice, the Desert Sun and community leader Harold Matzner to bring the Tachevah Block Party to downtown Palm Springs. “When it comes to promoting the Palm Springs destination, there is no one more dedicated and hard working than Aftab,” said Mayor Steve Pougnet. “On behalf of our citizens, I want to thank him for his unwavering commitment to the continued phenomenal success of our city. Aftab is a true Palm Springs star and an integral part of the magic that makes our city like no place else.”
