BILOXI, La. -- Biloxi casinos brought in more money in June 2010 than in June 2009. It's the first year-to-year gain in casino revenues in two years.
"This is a true milestone for us," city of Biloxi Public Affairs Manager Vincent Creel said Tuesday. "It shows that there's some confidence in our market."
The numbers probably have more to do with the recession loosening than with the potential cap to the oil spill, but Creel said, it's all positive.
"We think it was huge whenever they were finally able to cap that well," Creel said. "We hope that we've turned the corner both on the recession and on the oil spill."
Tourism on Biloxi's beaches remains down. Beach rentals on Jet Skis and Aqua Cycles is estimated to be down 75% percent from last year.
A smattering of tourists soaked up perfect weather Tuesday, including Peter Freeman and Samantha Wilkinson of Devon County, England.
"I thought it would be a lot busier to be honest, especially on a day like today," Freeman said. "I thought it would be really busy with a lot more going on."
"There's just less people than I thought," Kim Potier added. Potier and her family came to Biloxi from Lafayette. "I anticipated more people."
The number of tourists was matched by the number of cleanup workers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Tuesday. Most of the workers were concentrated between Pass Christian and Long Beach, although beaches remained open and appeared clean.
Biloxi leaders said Tuesday, they hope all they've already seen the worst of the oil spill.
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