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The chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission says the state's Gulf Coast casino industry should reach its pre-Hurricane Katrina level of jobs, gambling revenue and tax payments by late 2007. "That's at an absolute minimum," Jerry St. Pe said Friday at the Southern Gaming Summit. "The more likely scenario is that by the end of '07 those factors will be exceeded. "Most of the discussion Friday at the casino industry gathering centered on the lingering impact of Katrina, which walloped Mississippi's 12 coastal casinos and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses when it struck Aug. 29. The storm's powerful surge lifted massive casino barges like toy boats, tossing some of them on top of buildings onshore.Three Biloxi casinos are back in business and Mayor A.J. Holloway said he expects four more to be open in his city by the end of this year.Gaming industry analyst Carlton Geer of Las Vegas estimated that Biloxi's casino market will take until 2008 to recover to pre-Katrina levels. Revitalization, he said, will depend on the number of hotel rooms that reopen to accommodate tourists. Only about 23 percent of the market's rooms are back up now, he said.
May 7, 2006
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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