Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Coliseum to Grow with Area

Posted on Sun, Dec. 21, 2003   
 
Airport, Coliseum to Grow with Area
Biloxi Sun Herald, MS

The long-discussed expansions of the airport and the convention center, both of 
which could begin next year, are expected to transform the Coast tourism market 
by bringing in new airlines, larger conventions and more visitors. They could 
also lead to more hotels and casinos and even a cruise ship.

"There are four elements that matter in how you build a tourism destination: 
airline seats, hotel rooms, public meeting space and fun - things like events, 
outdoor recreation, golf, gaming, historical and cultural resources," said 
Steve Richer, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & 
Visitor's Bureau. "We're building all four walls sturdier and sturdier."

The $51 million expansion to the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, set to 
begin in February, will take care of additional airline seats, by providing 
space for existing airlines and room for three new carriers. Once the work is 
completed in early 2006, the terminal will be 165,000 square feet, compared to 
the current size of 92,000 square feet. This will allow the airport to handle 
1.8 million passengers a year, twice as many as the current capacity.

Bruce Frallic, the airport's executive director, said the expansion is needed 
because Gulfport-Biloxi International is running out of room and the number of 
passengers is even better than in 2000, the airport's best year. Ongoing 
tourism construction, such as the Ohr-O'Keefe Museums and the Isle of Capri's 
second hotel tower, also are factors.

"When tourism breaks ground, we break ground," Frallic said. "Every new hotel 
room translates to 150 more passengers a year for us."

Improved air service could lead cruise lines to make Gulfport a 
homeport.Operators have said that Gulfport-Biloxi International doesn't have 
enough flights to permanently support a ship, despite the fact thatthe 
Mississippi State Port at Gulfport served as the temporary homeport for the 
Carnival Conquest for 18 weeks this spring, Travel agents like to have the 
option of selling airline tickets as part of a cruise package, since it expands 
the number of people who can sail on a ship, said Philip Crannell, a senior 
vice president with Gee & Jenson, the port's cruise consultant. And competition 
between airlines for cruise packages helps the travel agents and cruise lines 
get better deals.

"The more airlines servicing an airport, the more attractive it is," Crannell 
said.

Frallic and Bill Holmes, the coliseum's executive director, said a larger 
convention center is directly tied to improvements at the airport.

"Once this expansion goes up, those airlines are coming," Holmes said.

The expansion to the Coast Coliseum & Convention Center, which has the backing 
of business, political and tourism leaders, would more than double the amount 
of meeting space. Holmes has said work could begin on the project during 2004. 
The project is estimated to cost as much as $72.4 million.

According to Convention, Sports & Leisure International, a Minneapolis-based 
firm that recommended the expansion, a larger convention center will mean up to 
an extra $42.7 million annually for the Coast economy.

The convention center project could lead to another one of Holmes' goals: 
building a headquarters hotel with several hundred rooms next to the convention 
center. The project was in the works but was derailed after the Sept. 11 
terrorist attacks, when development of new hotels slowed down.

Holmes said major hotel operators may rekindle their interest in the Coast, 
once they learn that a 200,000-square-foot expansion at the convention center 
is under way.

Casino operators may also start to look at the Coast again. Already, there has 
been some activity after a few slow years: the Isle of Capri has started the 
second phase of its expansion. Construction should start early next year on the 
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which will be the first casino to open on the Coast 
since 1999.

Two other sites have been approved by the Mississippi Gaming Commission:the 
Rock-N-Roll Casino in Biloxi and a casino on Caillavet Street.

John Ferrucci, vice president of Casino Magic Biloxi and president of the Gulf 
Coast Gaming Association, said if the airport and convention center expansions 
occur on schedule, there should be increased casino development around Back Bay.

"There are a lot of discussions about the potential of that area," he said. 
Because Back Bay ties in to Interstate 110, Ferrucci said there could be 
significant growth from Caillavet Street to Clay Point.

Don Anderson, a director of professional education at Purdue University who has 
more than 25 years in tourism marketing, said additional flights and more 
convention space will open the Coast up for national and international visitors.

"This all bodes well," Anderson said. "If you're going to try to get people 
from further and further afield, air lift is absolutely crucial. And meetings 
and gaming go hand in hand."

 
 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************