That type of funding model helps, Young said, because legislative budget cycles can hinder tourism entities’ need to commit to advertising ahead of time.

“When you’re doing marketing like this, you need to commit to magazines, and especially on that level, you have to commit ahead of time,” he said. “When you’re signing a contract to place a TV ad, you have to say ‘We can’t sign a yearlong contract, because we don’t know if we’re going to get funding.’”

A performance-based funding model like the one proposed last year would get the burden of tourism funding off taxpayers’ back, said Sen. Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez, who co-authored the Senate bill. Sojourner also serves on the senate tourism committee.

The bill passed the house and senate in different forms but died in conference.

Sojourner said not getting the bill through was disheartening after spending half of her year working with MTA and the tourism division.

“We had a funding mechanism that other states have in place that is working tremendously well,” she said.

Sojourner does not think an increase in the tourism appropriation is the proper way to fund tourism and added that last year’s funding model was a “win-win.”

With Medicare, Medicaid, education, road and bridges and other critical funding at the forefront, Sojourner is not sure the tourism appropriation increase will happen.

“I don’t know … the appropriations bill deadline isn’t for a few weeks, and it will be interesting to see what happens,” she said. “I don’t know from the feedback that I’m getting that (the appropriation) is necessarily the route our constituents want us to go. I’m not getting a whole lot of support from taxpayers when they know we have needs in infrastructure, water and sewer, roads and bridges, education and other needs.”

Tourism is, however, one of Mississippi’s biggest and most important industries, and the state and local cities, such as Natchez, need more money to market themselves, Sojourner said.

“This industry is not only important for Mississippi, but it is important to Natchez and our part of the state,” she said. “I want to do everything I can to support it, but I want to be smart and responsible with the taxpayers’ dollars.”

White said any money spent on tourism is an investment. For every $1 spent on tourism, White said, $6.46 is returned to the state.

Tourism is economic development, White said, and Mississippi’s neighboring states have caught onto that.

“There are other small states, like Alabama and Arkansas … who spend a lot more on tourism than we do,” he said. “They don’t use being poor or being small or being rural and Southern as an excuse. They have taken their own destiny in their hands … (because) tourism is big business.”

And Mississippi and cities such as Natchez have a better story to tell its visitors than any of its competitors, White said.

“We have a great story to tell, and in fact, I’m prejudiced, but I think we have the most compelling story to tell of all these states,” he said. “But we have the least amount of money, and that really, really makes it difficult to get our message out there.”