Natchez &8212; Barring a last-second fleet of buses carrying antebellum home-loving, tourists, fall Pilgrimage will wrap up today as a disappointment for organizers.

As for everyone else in town, well, it depends on whom you ask.

Bad news first.

As feared, tour bus traffic has slowed to a trickle, putting a big dent in tour tickets.

&8220;It&8217;s about what I expected: brutal,&8221; said James Coy, Natchez Pilgrimage Tours manager. &8220;The numbers have been the worst ever.&8221;

Coy said he wouldn&8217;t have a final tally of ticket sales until next week but guessed they are down some 60 percent from years past.

That is a number James Hinson does not dispute. Hinson has been leading carriage tours for 15 years and has never been so idle.

&8220;This is the worst I&8217;ve ever seen it, never seen it this bad for fall Pilgrimage,&8221; he said.

&8220;But everybody was hurt by this.&8221;

Actually, many businesses in town said they were doing quite well of late.

Layne Taylor at the Natchez Little Theatre has been pleasantly surprised with attendance at performances of &8220;Big River.&8221;

&8220;Our numbers were fabulous, we&8217;ve actually had a superb run,&8221; he said.

&8220;We&8217;ve got three more performances, tonight, (Saturday) night and Sunday afternoon, and it looks like they are going to be close to sellouts.&8221;

Taylor said average attendance was well over 100 people per show, a good turnout in spite of the fact that only a few bus tours came through.

&8220;If the bus tours had come like they were supposed to, we would have been close to sold out every show.&8221;

Taylor also runs a small bed and breakfast, Myrtle Corner, which he reported has been full throughout Pilgrimage.

The Eola Hotel also said it hasn&8217;t suffered from the slow Pilgrimage. General manager Ron Brumfield said, between evacuees, officials from government agencies and Georgia Pacific, his occupancy rates haven&8217;t missed a beat.

&8220;If business were like this all year, I&8217;d be pretty happy,&8221; he said.

Jonathan Wood, owner of Old South Trading Post on Canal Street said his tourist numbers have been down but sales are up.

Go figure.

Those tourists who did come to town for Pilgrimage are going home happy.

That&8217;s due to the skill of those operating the tours, the weather and the small crowds.

&8220;Those who did come had a wonderful time,&8221; he said.

Denise Allen and her group from Canton, Texas said she enjoyed the thinner crowds, but that she wants to see Pilgrimage prosper.

&8220;For us, we don&8217;t mind the crowds, it&8217;s good for the owners,&8221; Allen said.

&8220;Typically, we&8217;re in small groups, so it never feels crowded.&8221;

She said she would be back next year, regardless of the crowd size.