Stephen Richer Quotations

The product that we had and the product that we're going to have even better can perform much more successfully when we have the dollars to tell the story. Otherwise, we're at a competitive disadvantage. I think it's really important that there is enough resources to let people know what we have. Then we can compete with a lot of major destinations throughout the country.

Having these three resorts back in business will attract thousands of day trip customers, some of our meetings business, and many tour groups. Although we still will be far short of our previous room inventory and meeting space, we know that the demand to visit our destination is high and that business will take off with the reopening of the Imperial Palace, the Isle of Capri, and the Palace.

This could be the single most important event that will take place in our region this year. The tourism industry's physical as well as moral support will be incalculable.

A lot of the properties have a tremendous amount of space that they've been sitting on and haven't developed.

It's a challenging job. I'm not necessarily anxious to leave and I really love being on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but it's a significant pay increase. Quite frankly, I didn't come out of the storm very well. I've got some significant financial issues coming out of the storm.

I'm very happy to have this year over. We've had a lot of tragedy.

I'm very happy here. I love the people here. I love doing what I'm doing. I love getting things back together... This has nothing to do with how I feel about the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I really think there's a downside to overexposure, if it's exposure that says things aren't working well. Yes, there has been less coverage here, but I think in the long term we may come out ahead, because there's been more focus on the constructive things we're doing.