In 1999, Denise von Hermann, in a study of the Mississippi gaming industry, recommended that the state allow casino operations to move off barges onto dry land. “It made no sense from a risk-management perspective,” said von Hermann, a political science professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and an expert on the state's gaming industry. “In a significant storm, those things were going to break apart.”

And that is exactly what happened when Hurricane Katrina struck. A thriving gaming market, considered to be the third-largest in the country after Las Vegas and Atlantic City, was completely devastated. Now, a year later, the casino industry appears poised to return. The old casinos are coming back online, and new ones are under development, with as many as 15 expected to be in operation in Biloxi alone by 2010.

The pace at which the industry is recovering is exhilarating, says Steven Richer, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, who credits the Mississippi legislature's decision to allow casinos to move 800 feet onto dry land. He says this move was key in getting industry giants such as Harrah's to commit to the Gulf Coast. “Now we're talking about billion-dollar projects,” says Richer. In the meantime, the older casinos are coming back online and expanding.

Harrah's has reopened the Grand Biloxi and is planning a new $1 billion resort on adjoining property. The Beau Rivage Hotel & Casino, Biloxi's most luxurious property prior to Katrina, reopened in late August after MGM Mirage spent $500 million to upgrade the resort.

According to von Hermann, large resort casinos such as the Beau Rivage hold the key to whether the Mississippi Gulf Coast will continue to attract the fly-in market and make it a premier group destination.

“Meeting and convention business has always been a strong part of our overall mix,” says Mary Cracchiolo, spokeswoman for Beau Rivage. Cracchiolo says Beau Rivage has focused on 2007-2008 as the period in which it could rebuild group business. Helping that process along is this month's opening of Fallen Oak, the 18-hole Tom Fazio — designed golf course.

As for the Mississippi Gulf Coast's ability to attract the meetings market, von Hermann says that hotel growth “is critical.” Katrina reduced room inventory from about 17,500 rooms to slightly less than 7,000. Richer predicts that by 2010, the area will be “a tier-one destination” with 30,000 hotel rooms and up to 600,000 square feet of meeting space.

Proposed Biloxi developments include Bacaran Bay Casino Resort, a $500 million project with 638 suites, 432 one- and two-bedroom condo units, and an Arnold Palmer — designed golf course; and the Broadwater, a $1 billion project that would include two casinos, 1,900 hotel rooms, a golf course, convention facilities, and a marina.

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