Oil Spill Will Cost MS Coast $120 Million This Summer

Accord­ing to researchers at the Uni­ver­sity of  South­ern Mis­sis­sippi, the Gulf Oil Spill will cost the three coastal coun­ties of Mis­sis­sippi $120 mil­lion this sum­mer sea­son.  This will come in mostly the areas of tourism and ser­vice indus­try revenues.

Here’s a quick syn­op­sis of their fig­ures, just for the sum­mer months (June-August):

• Busi­ness at non-casino hotels are down 50%.
• Char­ter boat rev­enue is down 70%.
• Boat and boat trailer sales are down 65–70%.
• Seafood restau­rant busi­ness is down 30%, with seafood prices up 30%.

This is based on the rev­enue gen­er­ated the same time last year.  No oil has washed up on Mis­sis­sippi beaches yet (although some tar­balls have washed up on Horn and Petit Bois Islands).  The drop in rev­enue is strictly based on the images seen on national news, and the per­cep­tion that the oil has washed up every­where.  Just imag­ine what these num­bers will be, if and when the oil does wash up on the beaches.

Related Posts:

• Oil Spill’s Emo­tional Toll Leads to Appar­ent Suicide
• Oil Spill Update: Oil Slick Enters Mis­sis­sippi Sound
• The Gulf Oil Spill — A Photo Post
• Obama’s First Oval Office Speech: We need cap and tax!