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Reopened Biloxi Casinos See Record Revenues in January
The first three Biloxi, Mississippi casinos to reopen after being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina have reported better- than expected revenues during their first month of operation.
The IP Casino, which was the first of the area casinos to reopen, saw less damage to its offshore casino than many of its competitors. It reopened with more table games and slots than it had previously held. The Isle of Capri and the Palace casinos, which suffered more damage to their gambling boats, rebuilt smaller land casinos. All three casinos showed record revenue intakes since their reopening.
In fact, the total gross gambling revenue for the three casinos was close to $51 million in January, their first full month of operation. This is an excellent figure by any standards, but is particularly amazing when one takes into consideration that, in the year before Hurricane Katrina, all of the city of Biloxi's nine casinos took in around $80 million per month. That is, the three casinos open after Hurricane Katrina took in more than half of what nine casinos took in before the natural disaster struck the region.
Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway has said that he was very pleased by the figures.
"These figures prove that the hospitality industry in Biloxi has a strong and loyal following, and that we are poised for unprecedented greatness when more of our resorts and local businesses are up and running," said Mayor Holloway. "We have a ways to go in the recovery process, but there's plenty of promise on the horizon."
Jacques Cornet is the managing director of high yield research for CIBC World Markets, a market analyst firm that is based in New York City. Cornet said that he was not shocked by the high figure for total revenue at the casinos, since there is clearly a large unsatisfied demand for casinos in the region, and compared the numbers to those seen by other rebuilt casinos.
"I had heard anecdotally that they were doing pretty well with the openings," said Cornet. "I think you typically see this in an area where you have pent-up demand. You saw it in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana post-storm."
Cornet also said that he believes in the long- range viability of the casinos in the Biloxi region.
"Over the course of many years, the market will come back bigger and better than it ever was," Cornet said, although he added that, "It's hard to say that with all the tragedy and hardship that's going on."
Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association, said that patrons of the newly rebuilt casinos are a different crowd than those who had frequented their former versions. Many of the patrons these days, she said, are workers involved in the rebuilding of the region.
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