NATCHEZ &045; Conventions have canceled; group tours have pulled out; steamboats will take a long break from the Natchez riverfront &045; all as a result of damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

For Natchez tourism leaders, however, all is not lost. Bracing for what may be leaner fall and early winter visitor numbers, event and tour planners are banding together not just to salvage October through February but to kick up weekend activities to draw more people from within easy driving distance from Natchez.

Ruthie Coy, president of the Pilgrimage Garden Club, said it this way in a written message to club members this week: &uot;We in the tourism business will be cinching our belts another notch, but our doors and arms will be open to every visitor who comes.&uot;

The two biggest autumn events will go forward &045; Natchez Fall Pilgrimage, Oct. 22 through Nov. 5, and the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, Oct. 14 through 16.

The month will begin on the eve of Oct. 1, when a new event, Art & Soul: A Celebration of the Arts in Downtown Natchez will begin, a two-day event that showcases paintings, pottery, jewelry and photography, among other arts.

The arts celebration will take place on Commerce and Main streets, with artist booths, food vendors and entertainment on sidewalks and closed-off street blocks.

On Oct. 8 and 9, Natchez will host the annual Phatwater Kayak Challenge, a 45-mile kayak and canoe race that ends at Natchez Under-the-Hill.

The balloon race, traditionally attracting the largest weekend crowd of the year, is on track, said Laura Godfrey, director. &uot;It will go on. It may be smaller. Whether we can house the same number of pilots and same number of visitors, we don’t know,&uot; she said. &uot;But we have contacted all our entertainment and made deposits. They are all coming.&uot;

Questions about hotel and bed-and-breakfast room availability have led to cancellation of conventions as well as group tours to Natchez in coming months. But Fall Pilgrimage also will go on as planned, said Jim Coy, president of the Natchez Pilgrimage Tours.

&uot;We hope Natchez can become a symbol of normalcy in abnormal times,&uot; he said. &uot;We can be a place to come for stress-free weekends. But if our tourism is down, I don’t want to hear any complaints. There are people who have lost their homes, their jobs and even their lives in this hurricane.&uot;

Another blow to tourism is the announcement by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company that the American Queen, which departed Natchez Tuesday after a two-day stay, will not return until early March.

The Delta Queen will make stops in Natchez during its Nov. 15-21 cruise and again for a two-day stop during the Nov. 21-28 cruise, which will be its last cruise until early March, said Lucette Brehm, media contact for the company.

The Mississippi Queen will make one more stop in Natchez, a two-day stay during its Nov. 28 to Dec. 5 cruise from Memphis and back before resuming its schedule in early March.

The company is working with government agencies to make all three steamboats available for relief efforts in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast efforts for December, January and February, Brehm said.

Coy said income from house tours from steamboat passengers is about 20 percent of the association’s income between the two pilgrimage seasons in fall and spring. &uot;That’s a tremendous loss for us, functioning as we do at minimal expense,&uot; he said.

Walter Tipton, Natchez director of tourism, said several conventions have canceled, and that Jackson, Vicksburg and Tupelo are experiencing the same kinds of cancellations.

&uot;But on the plus side, we’re definitely attracting conventions from the Gulf Coast. We’ve already booked three, and I think there will be more. I think 2006 will be a real plus for us.&uot;

With decisions made by planners to go forward with fall events, his office will provide support, Tipton said.

&uot;We’re trying to get the word out that Natchez is intact. There is an impression that tourism in Natchez is not intact,&uot; Tipton said.

Connie Taunton of the Natchez Convention and Visitor Bureau said losing the steamboats in the short term will leave a void for many in the tourism industry.

&uot;It’s definitely going to affect us, especially the shops, carriage drivers and daily house tours,&uot; Taunton said. &uot;Sixty to 70 percent of the motor coach groups have canceled through December because everyone is skeptical about the situation here. And many of the tours included New Orleans.&uot;

Still, tourism leaders are setting their sights high for the next few months, installing billboards in Baton Rouge and possibly in Alexandria, La., to invite people to come to Natchez for weekend trips or special getaways as well as to the planned events.