Biloxi’s casino industry reported all-time record business last month, with casinos generating $97.3 million in gross gaming revenue. In all, nine of the past 11 months have set records in one fashion or another in Biloxi.
“This is certainly great news,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said, “but at the same time it’s a double-edged sword. We don’t want the rest of the country getting the idea that we’re back in business and all is well here in Biloxi and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”
Holloway pointed out thousands of residents are still living in temporary quarters along the Gulf Coast, and Biloxi still has a long way to go in rebuilding the dozens of municipal facilities either destroyed or heavily damaged by the storm.
“Still,” the four-term mayor said, “you’d rather hear good news than bad. What this means is that this industry of 17,000 employees and millions of visitors each year remains a vibrant part of our economy and will continue to fuel our recovery.”
Biloxi’s extraordinary trend in record gaming figures began in September 2006, 13 months after Katrina, when Biloxi’s casinos reported $95.7 million in monthly revenue. Since then, each month — save January and May — has been outpaced the same period from any previous year.
To see the monthly gross gaming revenue figures, based on calendar month reporting,
click here.
To see how local governments share the monthly 3.2 percent tax, based on the state’s monthly payments to the city, click here.