Drive down Biloxi, Miss.’ Highway 90 (aka Beach Boulevard) around dusk on any given day and you will see the setting sun casting glittery diamonds of light on the Gulf of Mexico, hear the caw of seagulls gently flying overhead and the distant laughter of people enjoying a shrimping tour, feel the shadow of casinos soaring into the sky, and spot the historic Biloxi Lighthouse, serving as a beacon of the city’s resilience and awe-inspiring beauty.
Such a scene does not typify a place that was hit by a ferocious storm less than two years ago, but Biloxi is not just any destination. Although significantly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, residents, business owners and nonprofit organizations continue to work to not only restore the community’s original splendor, but to make the setting better than it was before.
“Katrina made us ground zero for the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history, but it also brought us some gifts about who we are and what we are and how we are such a great community,” says Ricky Mathews, president and publisher of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sun Heard and co-chair of The Tourism Initiative for the Gulf Coast Business Council. “Where you see it is in the smiles and the graciousness and the hospitality, and the way people are treated. Katrina amplified that because there was a powerful reminder that came with the storm: How lucky we are to live where we live.”
According to the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB, prior to Hurricane Katina Biloxi was on its way to becoming one of the country’s leading gaming and beaching destinations, with hotels and casinos sprouting up on and around every corner, representing approximately 17,500 guest rooms.
Today, though, the destination is holding its own in the leisure and business travel market, with several new and improved casino resorts, world-class golf courses and gourmet restaurants popping up. More properties are on the way, including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, slated to open July 7, and Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino & Resort, expected to open in early 2010.
Besides shining a spotlight on the city’s resiliency, the storm ushered in legislation allowing casinos to move onshore, something that has been an economic positive for the city.
“We are seeing an explosion of condo-hotels and land-based development associated with casinos,” Mathews says. “We already have tremendous hotel rooms and amenities to go with that; we have about 10,000 hotel rooms now, and by 2011 we could have 30,000. By 2011, we will probably be the second-largest gaming destination in America and growing rapidly. Our goal is to be a premier destination.”
Groups now can feel like they are truly giving back to the area’s rebuilding effort by volunteering time outside of the boardroom to help restore historic structures and clean up around the community with Habitat for Humanity and Hands on Gulf Coast, two organizations that welcome group participation, even if just for a few hours at a time.
Meeting planners are quickly becoming aware of Biloxi’s prominent place in the market, with word spreading about the superior quality of the city’s accommodations, various activity offerings and restaurants graced by celebrity chefs, all adding to the extraordinary taste and feel of the destination.
“Immediately, you just get that sense of something special,” Mathews says about entering Biloxi. “When you add to that casinos and the incredible world-class rooms they have to stay at, the amenities that go with that, the chefs they have brought in, the wonderful restaurants, and the investments they have made in the golf courses, you get the sense that you are part of a world-class destination.”
