NATCHEZ — The Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau spends approximately $25,000 of its $1.3 million budget each year on travel expenses, an amount Tourism Director Connie Taunton said is necessary to promote the city.

So far this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the CVB has spent approximately $20,300 on travel.

Taunton said travel to conventions, conferences, meetings and other events are essential to enticing organizations and companies to host their events in Natchez, as well as attracting tourists to the city.

“In order for us to get visitors, we have to travel,” she said. “Meetings, conventions, making sales calls … it’s all part of staying competitive with our competitors.”

Compared to three other tourism destination cities in the state, the Natchez CVB spends slightly less than its competitors on travel. Natchez spends 2 percent of its budget on travel.

Vicksburg CVB Director Bill Seratt said Vicksburg spends approximately $30,000 — or 3 percent — of its total $1 million budget on travel.

That $30,000 gets the Vicksburg CVB staff where Seratt thinks they need to be.

But Seratt says his CVB doesn’t go fishing where he knows they can’t get a bite. In other words, Seratt said, his CVB travels to conferences where he knows they can bring back business to Vicksburg.

“We’ve got to bring back something to eat or we’re just not going to go,” he said.

Oxford CVB Director Mary Kathryn Herrington said Oxford spends approximately $13,000 — or 2.6 percent — of its total $500,000 budget.

That money is satisfies the CVB’s current travel needs, Herrington said, but more money would allow Oxford to travel more.

“I definitely think there are more opportunities that we would consider if we had more (money),” she said. “But we have to be judicious about our spending.”

Tupelo’s CVB spends approximately 3.5 percent, or $90,000, of its total $2.6 million budget on travel, Director Neal McCoy said.

“We feel that is a satisfactory number (to spend on travel),” McCoy said. “And in the three years I have been here, we haven’t gone over that.”

The expenses that each of the different CVBs include in their travel budget are similar and include conferences, conventions, meetings, sales calls and hosting travel writers in Natchez.

All four of the CVB directors agree that in order to get people to come to their respective cities, one must go to where those people are and convince them to visit.

Former CVB director and current Natchez Convention Center Director Walter Tipton said the CVB’s travel budget was approximately $25,000 when he was director.

“In my opinion, it’s under-funded,” Tipton said.

Tipton said almost every dollar the CVB spends on travel would bring $12 back to the community.

“The axiom for having a CVB is to reach people outside your area,” he said. “You can’t just visit people around town and expect it to affect what you’re doing. You can’t just sit in your office with your door closed and expect to get people to Natchez.”

Tipton said his “hit rate” for bringing business back to Natchez while traveling was approximately 95 percent.

“I don’t want to spend my money where I’m not going to get results,” he said.

Natchez CVB Director Connie Taunton said the CVB’s travel includes tour bus association conferences, Travel South International, Travel South USA, Mississippi Tourism Association meetings, the joint conference of the Mississippi and Louisiana societies of association executives and other meetings, as well as taking meeting or travel executives out to dinner on sales calls.

Taunton said the CVB’s travel to the various events each year is not randomly selected.

“We do our research and know they’re looking at doing business in the Southeast,” she said.

At conferences like Travel South USA and Travel South International, where CVB staff meets with domestic and international travel agents, respectively, Taunton said meetings are arranged with representatives from different areas ahead of time.

Different representatives request to meet with Natchez, and Natchez representatives can request to meet with different companies they know are interested in things the city can offer.

The CVB’s travel expenses also include a little more than $1,000 for consultant Jennifer Barbee to travel from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Natchez. Barbee facilitated a tricentennial meeting in February with the city’s tricentennial committee. The expense included airfare, an overnight stay in a Jackson hotel and meals.

Taunton said Barbee conducted the meeting free of charge.

“But I still paid her way to get her here,” she said.

Barbee and her team has since been hired by the CVB for $35,000 to market the 2016 celebration.

More money would allow the Natchez CVB to go to trade shows and other events Natchez’s competitors attend, Taunton said.

“We’re not going as many places as our competitors, like Tupelo, for the leisure traveler, and we’re not going to as many trade shows,” she said. “I think we’re OK, but of course we would always like to do more. But we would have to have more staff.”

The CVB’s travel expenses this year have included trips to:

– Charlotte, N.C., for the American Bus Association’s Marketplace in February, which cost approximately $1,500. The trip included $400 for airfare, $336 for hotel costs, $204 total per day allowance, $113 for baggage, parking and taxi expenses and $99 in mileage reimbursement for the drive to the airport.

– Virginia Beach, Va., for the Southeastern Tourism Society’s Fall Forum Oct. 30-Nov. 2 for $1,179. The trip included $536 for airfare, $270 for a hotel and $80 for baggage and parking.

– Virginia Beach for the Bank Travel Conference, which cost approximately $1,000. The conference, CVB Director Connie Taunton said, allows the CVB to promote Natchez to organizations that have travel club within banks that offer trips to their premier bank customers.

– Tunica for the Governor’s Conference in September, which cost approximately $1,400. Taunton won an award at the conference, she said, and five other staff members traveled along to participate in the conference. Three rooms at the Gold Strike Casino for three nights cost approximately $656. The staff was given a $123 per day allowance, which totaled $738.

– Atlanta, Ga., for Travel South International conference, where the CVB met with international travel agents to promote Natchez as a destination for international travelers, Taunton said. The trip cost approximately $1,500, which included $400 for airfare, $681 for hotel, $323 total per day allowance and other expenses.

– Little Rock, Ark., for the Travel South USA conference, which is similar to the Travel South International conference, Taunton said, but focuses on domestic travel, cost approximately $1,000.

– Jackson for the Mississippi Tourism Association’s spring meeting in March, which cost approximately $658, $123 per day allowance for both, $133 for mileage reimbursement and $278 for hotel costs.

– Atlanta, Ga., for the Southeast Tourism Society’s meeting in Atlanta, Ga., in March, which cost approximately $776.

– Gulf Shores, Ala., for the joint conference of the Mississippi and Louisiana societies of association executives for Havard, Taunton and Anna Byrne cost a little more than $1,300.

– Jackson for Natchez Day at the Capitol for five CVB staff members to promote Natchez and give lunch and gifts to legislators. Travel expenses for the trip cost a total of $539 including $230 total per day cost and $249 for a hotel stay. The trip also included approximately $2,500 in catering charges for legislators’ lunches, the cost of which was split with Natchez Inc., Taunton said.