Coastal Mississippi 's economy rebounding

By Beth Baugh
After Katrina Newswire

BILOXI - People and businesses are beginning to return to some degree of relative normalcy. Casinos are re-opening, businesses are rebuilding, hotels are renovating. And the biggest casino resort prior to Katrina's wrath - the Beau Rivage - reopened on Aug. 29.

So as the region marks the one-year anniversary of the worst natural disaster ever to befall the continental United States - Hurricane Katrina - the economy on Mississippi 's coast is in flux. And it's been a long, hard year for most of the Coast economically.

All those changes have not been negative, however. The world witnessed the plight on television even before many natives realized the gravity of the situation. And because of the national and international media attention received by Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of visitors have come to lend a helping hand to rebuild our homes, churches and other facilities.

The eyes of the world were again upon the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coasts Aug. 29 to tell the story, which is one of hope and strength, according to Steve Richer, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Tourism Commission.

CNN Reporter Kathleen Koch, who is from Bay St. Louis, returned to the Coast for the anniversary to finish her second documentary on her hometown's recovery, "The Town That Fought Back." The "CNN Presents" report will chronicle heroism and survival in Hancock County . The program is slated to air in September.

Koch said she has made more than a dozen trips to South Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina.

"There are so many stories to tell," she said. "The Mississippi Gulf Coast has come a long way (this year) through sheer guts and determination, but it still has so very far to go."

Koch calls what has happened on the Coast "a true survival story" considering the initial lack of help from FEMA, a devastating amount of debris to clean up, and lack of attention from the insurance companies.

But she said she hoped the horrific events happening in the Middle East wouldn't take media attention away from the year anniversary because the world needs to remember that many people are still suffering in Mississippi and Louisiana .

"So much more work lies ahead," Koch said.

This media attention will mean a lot to the Coast economy, both in the short-term and the long-term, Richer said.

In the short-term, the thousands of media personnel that are here will be spending money during the week or so they spend here, he said.

Everybody who sells anything will benefit, said Linda Hornsby, executive director of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association.

Not only the hoteliers will benefit, but also rental car companies, restaurants, gas stations, and retail establishments will see an increase in sales, she said.

Currently, about 6,800 hotel units have reopened of the 17,400 operating prior to Hurricane Katrina. And Beau Rivage will reopen 1,200 of its 1,700 rooms Aug. 29.

"Having our biggest property open is good," Richer said. "It's good for people going back to work and for giving people more to do."

"It's just good all the way around. It's going to be a bittersweet day-but that's part of the sweet side."

Hornsby said maximum occupancy was expected during the anniversary week, primarily because of the media.

Coast hotels still had some units available the week before, but that was expected to change before the anniversary week is here, she said.

"I see these people covering the Coast," Hornsby said. "They will be everywhere."

And that means dollars in tax revenue, which has been drastically reduced during the last year.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Katrina One Year Later Committee has been established to keep the media informed of what is going on coast wide. A website, www.mississippibeyondkatrina.com , offers valuable information of interest to the national and local news media and other interested parties.

Four media centers were operating Aug. 21 through 31 across the Coast, according to Janet Harrington, Travel Industry manager for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We are proposing to do media tours Thursday to Sunday," Harrington said before the anniversary. "We hope to get a lot of positive stories out of it."

Each county-Harrison, Hancock, and Jackson were toured, she said.

Letters were mailed to 1,000 media contacts telling them how to get in touch with the appropriate people for hotels, story ideas, contacts, events, and tours, Richer said.

The Coast has already received recent positive press coverage from the USA Today.

Media personnel who haven't been here covering the story may be surprised, Richer said, because it still looks pretty bad. But it gets better every day.

"We want to give them as much as possible to have a fair story."

"The real story is one of recovery, the billions of investment going on, the state and local officials working together for renewal that has set the table for private sector investment," Richer said. "That's real, real positive."

Richer said the larger economic impact, in addition to the money spent while the media is here, will be the stories they take back to their cities, states, and America .

The media have been and will be powerful advocates in encouraging people to visit and to invest, he said. And some will do both.

"In general, the people who live here and the thousands who've been here to help us have a lot to be proud of," Richer said. "And we are thankful for the help. They've shared our pain."

Beth Baugh is a doctoral student in mass communications at the University of Southern Mississippi. The After Katrina Newswire is a project of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at USM (www.usm.edu/afterkatrina). This story can be reprinted with this credit included.