Biloxi has been knocked down and rebuilt more times than most cities endure in their entire histories, battered by storms and remade by each recovery. Its latest reinvention seeks to define the city as more than a casino town, blending its beaches, culture, and celebrated cuisine into a fuller destination.

The waterfront is central to the effort. Beyond the gaming floors, the city has worked to develop its beaches, its seafood restaurants, and its cultural attractions, offering visitors reasons to come that have nothing to do with a slot machine. The aim is a more rounded and resilient tourism economy.

The city's identity is bound up with the water, for better and worse. The Gulf provides the beaches, the seafood, and the beauty that draw visitors, but it also delivers the hurricanes that have repeatedly forced the city to rebuild. Living with that duality is part of what it means to be a coastal city here.

Biloxi's reinvention is a work in progress, and its success is not assured in a competitive tourism market. But the city has proven its resilience many times over, and its effort to broaden its appeal reflects a hard-won wisdom. A destination that offers many reasons to visit, and many ways to recover, is a destination built to last.