Magnolia State Hosts More Than 22 Million Visitors in FY07

The addition of six state-licensed casinos during fiscal year 2007 boosted tourism's impact on Mississippi's economy. The post-Katrina growth spurt is continuing throughout FY08, with 29 state-licensed casinos as of February 1, 2008.

"We're back in business and then some," said Craig Ray, director of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Tourism Division. "Two casinos chose not to re-open, but two new ones did... and Margaritaville will open next year in the former Grand property. The properties that reopened also upgraded, and we have a much better casino product on the Mississippi Gulf Coast."

With the new casinos coming online, gaming jobs jumped 29% to 30,100 in FY07, accounting for nearly one in three tourism posts. The private sector accounted for 98% of direct tourism industry jobs. All total, the tourism annual payroll was $1.7 billion, a 23% increase from the $1.4 billion annual payroll in FY06. Tourism remains the sixth most significant industry impacting direct employment jobs, based on all sectors of Mississippi's economy.

Hotel operators made significant progress recovering from Hurricane Katrina, which accounted for the loss of 8,753 rooms from the state's hotel inventory of 55,079 on August 29, 2005. In FY07, hoteliers added 5,313 rooms to the state's hotel supply, bringing the total to 51,087 rooms.

"We still have a shortage of about 4,000 rooms, and that includes B&Bs and other overnight venues," said Ray. "By 2010, we should be back to pre-Katrina numbers."

Highlights of the FY07 annual tourism impact report, released in February by MDA, include:

* Tourism expenses totaled $5.7 billion, a 10% increase from FY06.

* Tourism capital investment (TCI) totaled $897 million, a significant 63% increase over FY06. Approximately $343 million of TCI activity was attributed to state-licensed casinos and amenities.

* Mississippi received 22 million total visitors in FY07, a 6% increase over FY06. Most visitors traveled from Louisiana, Alabama and Texas, respectively, followed by Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, a trend unchanged from last year.

* International visitors numbered nearly 200,000, primarily from Canada, Germany and England, respectively, followed by Mexico, France and Holland, a trend also unchanged from FY06.

"Because of the value of the dollar, our international visitors are up 85% in this fiscal year," Ray pointed out, noting that MDA is establishing a presence in Japanese and Canadian markets in FY08.

With tourism product additions this year of INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, and the B.B. King Museum (slated to open in September), Ray predicts an even greater international draw.

"Even though we cannot dramatically increase that niche without an international airport, we're still very strong attracting international guests to Mississippi," he said.

Next July, Mississippi will host the highly-coveted National Governors Association's (NGA) annual conference on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which the Magnolia State was scheduled to host in 2006. Instead, that year, the NGA conference moved to Charleston, S.C., as Mississippi recovered from the storm.

"Mississippi has not hosted the prestigious NGA meeting since 1935, and we're putting incredible effort into getting ready for that event," said Ray, noting the conference will be the largest of its kind the state has hosted.

While tourism partners have scrambled to recover from Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow, one question remains on everyone's mind: will another brutal storm pass through again anytime soon?

"Obviously, our tourism partners are bullish on Mississippi, and everyone knows you can't predict Mother Nature," said Ray. "Look at the number of tornadoes we've seen across the country this year so far ... 750, that's some 200 more than average. The last two hurricane seasons, experts have predicted strong storms, but we've been fortunate. Our tourism partners obviously believe in the Mississippi product, not just on the Gulf Coast, but throughout the state. We have a good thing going."

Copyright Mississippi Business Journal May 19, 2008
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