JACKSON - Tourism remains blunted by the softened economy, but new attractions and a stronger showing in late summer are raising expectations that 2003 will be a better year than expected.
That doesn't mean 2003 will break any records.
Casino revenues through July were down 4.6 percent from the year before.
Tourism revenues are expected to rise about 2 percent, but part of the increase will come from the addition of new attractions rather than increased revenue for existing ones.
And tourism activity remains flat.
"We're not painting a happy picture, but I do believe we're coming out of the economic slump," said Darienne Wilson, director of the tourism division of the Mississippi Development Authority.
Across the Southeast, drive-to tourist destinations like Mississippi continue to report better performance that those relying on air traffic, according to the Federal Reserve's recent survey of business activities.
But the Fed also noted that hotels across the Southeast that cater to business travelers continue to report low occupancy levels.
In Mississippi, Wilson noted that the tourism industry - which provides more than 90,000 jobs statewide - was losing workers as businesses cut payrolls to survive the economic downturn.
The Gulf Coast by the end of June had lost 3,600 leisure and hospitality jobs - a category that includes casinos, hotels and restaurants.
But in July and August, tourism across the Southeast began to show signs of recovery.
"Food service and hotels are adding jobs," said Mike Wald, regional economist for the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wilson said preliminary figures show tourism revenue statewide rose 5 percent to 6 percent in July and August.
Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., which operates four casinos in Mississippi, reported a record first quarter. The Biloxi gaming operator said its net income for the period ending July 27 rose to $13.6 million from $12.2 million in the same period a year ago.
On both the Gulf Coast and in Tunica, tourism executives are aggressively trying to increase the number of visitors.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau upgraded its Web site, adding streaming video commercials and links to casino sites.
It also launched its first national television ad campaign after a visitor study found about one-third of 2002 coast visitors traveled from at least 750 miles away, compared to 19 percent in 2001.
Tunica County is spending money to add attractions to increase the area's appeal beyond its nine casinos.
The $24 million Tunica River Park is scheduled to open in mid-October and will feature an interactive museum of Mississippi River history and a landing stage for the Tunica Queen. Beginning Friday, the 400-passenger Tunica Queen riverboat will give tours on the river.
Tunica was once one of the poorest counties in the nation.
In the past decade, thanks to the casinos, it has developed a tourism industry that employs 16,000. It also has built a golf course and tennis center with indoor clay courts.
"Ten years ago, we had zero tourism, and the casinos have come in and built all this and now we're trying to create a true destination," said Webster Franklin, president and chief executive of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Franklin said visits by tourists are down slightly from last year.
"But the hotels are about 88 percent occupied, visitors still stay an average of 2.6 nights and summer was strong," Franklin said.
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