Natchez &8212; Lists of the most livable cities in the United States frequently include Asheville, N.C.

That is not simply because it is successful as a tourist destination, said Richard J. Lutovsky, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. But tourism is important.

&8220;We work with the city to develop the central business district,&8221; Lutovsky said. &8220;We have 60 restaurants downtown, and we&8217;re becoming a culinary destination.&8221;

The new slogan for the city is &8220;Asheville: Any Way You Like It,&8221; he said.

&8220;We&8217;re not scripted. You can do a different vacation each year in Asheville.&8221;

The Chamber is the umbrella organization for economic development, small business development and the convention and visitor bureau.

&8220;We put a great deal of money into promoting Asheville,&8221; Lutovsky said.

&8220;Three people work full time to get free articles about Asheville placed.&8221;

The city of about 68,000 has a large retirement population. &8220;We cater to the medical community because of that,&8221; he said.

Employment numbers in Asheville consistently rank below the state capital, a good sign, he said. &8220;The economy is spread among various industries.&8221;

Four airlines service the Asheville airport.

&8220;The numbers of passengers are up 20 percent from last year,&8221; Lutovsky said.

Walter Tipton, director of tourism for Natchez, said not having air service into Natchez is a disadvantage for tourism.

Further, &8220;One of the things that hurts Natchez currently is a lack of continuous industrial development.&8221;

Hotels in Natchez do well on weekends but not as well on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

&8220;We don&8217;t have the diverse industries to bring the business people to the hotels during the week,&8221; Tipton said.

What&8217;s more, tourism thrives in the healthy community, with successful education, health and transportation systems, Tipton said.

He likes some of the progress in those areas, such as the new graduate business programs building at the Alcorn State University Natchez campus.

&8220;In the last seven years, we&8217;ve seen the Alcorn MBA building built, four-laning of our highways, the building of the convention center and the visitors center and better access to the river,&8221; Tipton said.

Natchez can be proud of its success despite lower tourist numbers in the last few years, he said.

&8220;That doesn&8217;t deter us from having a bright future.&8221;