The Natchez Convention Promotion Commission and the team at Visit Natchez invite you to attend our annual tourism summit on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Natchez Convention Center, with coffee and registration at 8:30 a.m. and program from 9 a.m. to noon.

We’re really excited to share with you an agenda that will include highlights from 2019, plans, goals and budget for 2020, and a very special guest speaker, Richard Peterson, President and CEO of the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Marketing Council.

Headquartered in San Francisco, USCHMC is a national organization that amplifies the importance of cultural and heritage experiences throughout the United States to domestic and international travelers.

We know from the thousands of people who visit Natchez annually, and from the latest national research, travelers today are looking for authentic sensory experiences of a destination, also known as cultural heritage tourism.

We have a tremendous opportunity for Natchez to set the standard as a premier cultural heritage tourism destination because we have what visitors are looking for! Not only do we have the cultural, natural, and historic resources, we also have a community eager to share those resources and stories with visitors as well as our own community.

Peterson’s session Tuesday morning will focus on opportunities to develop and implement a well-rounded cultural and heritage tourism program with the extensive assets we are fortunate to have in Natchez, and will include examples of successful cultural partnership programs in other communities. He will also share cultural traveler insights, marketing and business planning tools.

The importance of tourism to our economy is undeniable, and as our “Learn From Our Locals” campaign this year says, “we are all Natchez tourism.”

Tourism impacts all of us, from the over 2,200 jobs produced by travel and tourism in 2018, to the savings in taxes in 2018 of $976 for every household in Natchez-Adams County as reported in the most recent Economic Contribution Report for Tourism prepared by the Mississippi Development Authority.

The Natchez Convention Promotion Commission and all of us at Visit Natchez greatly appreciate the opportunity to serve the tourism industry in Natchez.

As representatives for our destination, we take seriously our responsibility to manage and use the resources through the tourism taxes that fund our programs to further the positive economic impact and growth of the city and its stakeholders. In the end, however, we are one of many keepers of the future of Natchez and by working together, we can create a bright, positive future for our community.

So plan to join us for Natchez Tourism 2020 on Tuesday, Oct. 1 beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Natchez Convention Center.

Jennifer Ogden Combs is executive director of Visit Natchez & Natchez Convention Promotion Commission.