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Challenges and Opportunities? |
E-mail: [email protected] |
by Harry Nobles, September 2008
The Gulf Coast has once again been hard hit by a natural disaster. There are obviously many challenges facing millions of citizens in several states. While our minds tend to focus immediately on the loss of life, the resulting hardships, and the property damage, I also see opportunities in the Gulf Coast area, particularly for the hospitality and tourism industry. Prior to the storms there were several beautiful and very successful hotels, resorts, and casinos employing thousands of workers throughout the region. These establishments were patronized annually by millions of visitors, local, regional, national, and international. Once the initial shock is past, these same visitors will return, and will undoubtedly be joined by others. To paraphrase a movie tagline, �if you rebuild it, they will come�. Why not rebuild it even better than it was? If the Gulf Coast is rebuilt, as we are sure it will be, it will certainly rebound to new heights. How do we know this? We know this because the region has seen devastation in the past, and has always rebounded. America is a resilient nation, created by a resilient determined people, and sustained through numerous crises by their descendants for more than two centuries. This southern part of America has endured all those crises, and some of its own. One hundred and forty-three years ago, the South was in ruin after the Civil War; it rose again and prospered. In 1900 Galveston, Texas was almost totally destroyed by a hurricane, with the loss of thousands of lives; Galveston came back and prospered. Once again Galveston has borne the brunt of another devastating catastrophe. I believe the current residents will respond the same way their ancestors did. more than a century ago In the 1930�s the American South was particularly hard hit by the Great Depression; the South rose again and prospered again. In recent years, the hospitality and tourism industry has been a key player in the South�s economic recovery by providing thousands of jobs in previously depressed areas. In 1946 Texas City, Texas was heavily damaged by a maritime explosion, again with many casualties; the city and surrounding area rebounded and became an important port and major player in the oil and petrochemical industry. In 1957, Hurricane Audrey ravaged a large part of Southwest Louisiana, including Cameron Parish which Ike has just revisited. I was there and can personally attest to the extent of the damage and loss of life. Yet Cameron and the surrounding area came back and again prospered. These are just a few highlights; the list goes on with Hurricanes Camille,
Betsy, Katrina, Rita and many others too numerous to name.
My point is simple: destruction and devastation are nothing new to the
people of the Gulf Coast; they have been through it all before in varying
degrees and they have always responded, rebounded, and rebuilt.
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