Tourism Has to Be Rebuilt for Gulf Coast to Survive

The tourism industry must be rebuilt after immediate needs are tended to on the hurricane-ravaged U.S. Gulf Coast, because the long-term survival of the area depends on it, a Mississippi visitors bureau official said Friday.

The "build back our coast fund" is being set up to foster redevelopment from Hurricane Katrina´s damage, and it has already received pledges for donations, said Stephen Richer, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He would not provide details on how much was pledged, but said donors could specify whether the money went to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama or Florida.

Richer estimated the tourism industry gave jobs to more than 200,000 people on the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida. In his region alone, more than 20,000 jobs and $2 billion in annual spending are generated because of tourism, especially in casinos, he said.

He applauded the efforts of relief agencies in getting emergency aid to the area.

"We must, however, look at the long term needs of our community," he said. "That means jobs and bringing back the businesses that support them."

More than half of the 13 casinos in coastal Mississippi towns of Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis were destroyed by the hurricane, state officials have said. The state´s gambling industry is the third-largest in the nation, behind Nevada and New Jersey.