NATCHEZ — Tourism tax revenues are higher so far this year than they were last year, and tourism officials say big events deserve the credit.

The restaurant and lodging taxes total $947,000 from January to May, approximately $48,000 more than the $899,000 that was collected in the same time period last year.

The $2 hotel and bed-and-breakfast occupancy tax is at $375,000 through May, nearly $50,000 more than what was collected all of last fiscal year.

The increase in $2 tax money may be misleading, Natchez Tourism Director Connie Taunton said.

Taunton said the state informed her that a property or properties, which had not been paying taxes, paid the back taxes this year.

“They went in and checked, and some of the properties weren’t reporting,” she said.

Taunton said she has not been able to identify the property that was not paying taxes.

Taunton is optimistic about the year-end tourism tax numbers and attributes the increase to a good spring and summer tourism season.

Natchez Spring Pilgrimage, which was four weeks in March, saw the second best season it’s had in 10 years, Natchez Pilgrimage Tours CEO Marsha Colson said.

The majority of spring pilgrims, Colson said, stay at least one night in Natchez, adding money to the tax base.

“It doesn’t take an economic or financial genius to know that if (tourists) are going to stay in our hotels, they’re going to eat in our restaurants and gas up before they leave,” Colson said. “That is going to add a lot to the tax base.”

Natchez Convention Center and Grand Hotel Manager Walter Tipton said the convention center booked several large multi-day conventions this year that put out-of-towners in hotels and restaurants.

Tipton said tourism is a very fragmented market.

“So it’s not like you can put a finger on something and say this is (responsible for the increase),” he said.

Tipton said, though, a few groups that did not have conventions in Natchez last year booked the convention center this year.

Tipton said bus tours to Natchez have also increased, which he said is because New Orleans’ tourism industry as made a comeback since Hurricane Katrina. Many of the tours that start or end in New Orleans make stops in Natchez, Tipton said.

The opening of Magnolia Bluffs Casino in December likely brought visitors to town, too, Tipton said.

Annual events, such as the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, also help boost tourism tax numbers, Taunton said.

Natchez also recently benefited from an overflow of visitors from a recent tournament at Vidalia’s new recreation complex, Taunton said.

“We’ve had a great spring and summer thus far,” Taunton said. “A number of the restaurants have said they are staying busy, and meetings and conventions are coming in as far out as 2016.”

Taunton also credits local residents and their support local restaurants for the tax increase.

The rest of this year and next year also look promising, Tipton said.

“We’ve got some really good groups coming in the last part of this year and for 2014,” he said.

Those groups include a statewide public transit convention, Phil Waldrep Ministries and the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.