Make no mistake about it — Natchez’s best days are not behind it, as some critics might suggest.

In fact, Natchez’s best days may yet be just around the corner.

Tax receipts from sales taxes that are generated from tourist-related businesses indicate last year’s Tricentennial brought thousands more people to Natchez.

That’s great, but only if we continue to build on our tourism economy.

Natchez has depended upon its tourism economy since the early 1930s when the Natchez Pilgrimage was formed and began to lure more visitors to our community.

For many years, various factions have caused Natchez’s tourism efforts to stutter from time to time.

That’s the past, though. Where we are going is in our hands. In fact, on Monday, the city’s tourism leadership will host two, identical, 3-hour sessions as part of a tourism summit. If you have an interest in the future of our community’s tourism effort, we urge you to attend Monday’s summit. The sessions will be from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hotel VUE.

Tourism touches practically all facets of Natchez’s economy in one way or another.

Because it’s such an important part of our community, making sure we’re all pushing and pulling in the same direction is critical to our future success.