NATCHEZ — After four years running the day-to-day operations at Natchez Pilgrimage Tours, Executive Director Marsha Colson is stepping down.

Colson will remain chief executive officer at NPT and represent the company in contract negotiations and other big projects.

“I love what I’m doing, and I always want to be involved in NPT, but I have been considering for the last six or eight months that it’s really time to have freedom to focus on my life, personal obligations and responsibilities and other business directions,” Colson said. “This is a good chance for me to step back and still stay in involved with NPT.

Colson is also president of the Pilgrimage Garden Club for another year, which is also a large time commitment.

“It’s been very, very hard managing NPT and being the president of the garden club at the same because they’re both very big jobs,” she said.

Effective May 1, NPT group sales coordinator Emily Edwards was promoted to general manager of NPT. Colson will remain full-time for the rest of the month, she said, to transition Edwards into the general manager position.

Edwards, an Alabama native, was hired at NPT in January and worked previously for four years in reservations and sales at The Crestwood, a condominium hotel, in Aspen, Colo.

“I’m really excited and very grateful,” she said. “I’ve wanted to challenge myself, and I have had a lot of support from everybody that is involved with NPT.”

NPT has also been streamlining its services for more efficient operations, Colson said.

“Like any good business, we were looking to where the biggest part of our business comes from, what our return on investment was in terms of employees; efforts and labor, and realized that maybe we needed to refocus some of what we were doing,” she said.

NPT decided, Colson said, to no longer book reservations for bed-and-breakfasts. She said most local bed-and-breakfasts have websites now that allow potential guests to learn more information about the bed-and-breakfast and book rooms online.

“We’ve done bed-and-breakfast reservations for years, and before it was profitable and a product that worked well with our business,” Colson said. “Now smart and savvy bed-and-breakfast owners are promoting their own properties and booking their own reservations, which meant our services were not needed as much or were not as successful. Although we were making a net income, it was not enough to justify the labor costs.”

NPT also consolidated job duties of multiple positions into Edwards’ job, moved some employees from full-time to part-time and streamlined duties for other positions.

NPT also has a new point of sale system, Colson said.

“We can now sell tickets from an iPad or an iPhone, or wherever we have access to the Internet,” she said.

Edwards said NPT has in general been looking at its services and systems to make them more efficient.

“We have really been trying to trim where we can and really trying to upgrade and establish better ways to run the day-to-day operations,” Edwards said.

Colson said she is confident in Edwards’ ability to successfully manage NPT.

“Emily has done a really good job, and she has a lot of skills,” Colson said.

Edwards said she is eager to play a bigger role at NPT and in Natchez’s tourism industry.

“I really want to use my past sales and tourism experience to help NPT move forward and grow, as well as help Natchez tourism reach its full potential,” she said. “I’m just really eager to play a more significant role for Natchez; it’s already become home for me.”