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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories exploring the success and impact of the pilgrimage season in Natchez.

NATCHEZ — Year one of the Pilgrimage Garden Club’s condensed version of Spring Pilgrimage is in the book.

Laine and Kevin Berry, who authored the changes, have collected data that they say points to the format’s success.

“When we first introduced the idea, we got lots of pushback from hotels, restaurants and other vendors,” Laine Berry said. “They were concerned the shortened schedule would have a negative economic impact on Natchez. What we hear from them now is that it was overwhelmingly phenomenal, the best in decades. People now understand tourism can still bring lots of people to Natchez if we approach it in a more modern way.”

Instead of the typical month-long event with tourists buying multiple tickets to select houses open on only certain days, this year the Pilgrimage Garden Club opened its homes on Thursday through Sunday for only two weeks. In addition, the purchase of one wristband allowed visitors to see any of the 19 PGC houses open for tour on any day they chose to visit them. The homes were open each of the eight days and were available for tours on the hour throughout the day.

The PGC members also organized several additional events, including a fish fry at Mount Repose and a tour of some of the area’s private cemeteries, to share the Natchez culture with visitors.

Because it is a numbers game, homeowners who opened the doors of their historic homes to visitors made more money opening for just the eight days, rather than the entire month, the Berrys said.

“Somewhere along the line, someone came here and convinced Natchez people that the city is not relevant anymore and people no longer want to come here. This marketing strategy disproves that hypothesis and proves Natchez is still very sought after and relevant,” Laine Berry said.

The success of the new Pilgrimage came as no surprise to the Berrys.

“We had two proof of concepts before Pilgrimage, and we started preselling tickets three months in advance and those sales were greater than our projections and greater than we had done in the past,” Kevin Berry said.

Berry, who once owned an advertising agency, created a new website for the Pilgrimage Garden Club — PilgrimageNatchez.com — and orchestrated proprietary digital marketing efforts, which resulted in the sale of nearly 1,400 wristbands. The Berrys were not paid for their work by the PGC. They volunteered their efforts.

“Because of the two proof of concepts we produced, we knew the approach would be successful,” Kevin said. “We felt pretty confident from the beginning,” Laine said.

While the majority of the visitors that weekend were here to tour homes, many came specifically for some of the cultural events.

Part of the Berrys’ marketing strategy was targeting those who are costumed reenactors of historic events.

“We had some people who only came for the Miss Julia’s Soiree and the Bridgerton event,” Laine said.

Extensive exit surveys provided interesting information about those who visited, they said.

“Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed said it was their first time to come to Natchez, which is huge. Fifty-nine percent stayed four to nine days here. That is a result of people visiting Natchez from further away than is typical,” Laine Berry said.

Of the several marketing plans the Berrys deployed, one was targeting people from all 48 contiguous states. “Because many traveled so far to get here, they stayed longer,” she said.

In addition, the surveys indicate that the average spend of each visitor who bought a wristband was between $1,500 to $2,000.

“Those nine days pumped close to $2 million into the Natchez economy,” Kevin said.

The type of visitor that was attracted to the new PGC Spring Pilgrimage model was more valuable to the city than those who arrive in Natchez and experience it on a riverboat cruise.

“This reinvigorated that organic tourist experience. It was people coming here to experience the culture of the city, which you cannot get from a cruise ship that drops you off for a day and then quickly ushers you out,” Laine Berry said.

According to the Berrys’ surveys, visitors do want that organic Natchez experience, and those tourists are the most valuable to the city’s economy.

“Ninety-three percent said they would return to Natchez in the future and a full 100 percent said they would definitely refer family and friends to visit Natchez.”

“Never, ever in the history of ever have we had a 100 percent ‘would recommend’ rate,” Laine said.

The Berrys are founders of Our Restoration Nation, an online community of people interested in architecture and historic preservation.

“This was our third time to do an invitation to members of Our Restoration on YouTube and Instagram to visit Natchez. One thing we learned was how many other people knew about Natchez from our YouTube channel. Forty-three percent of the survey respondents said they heard about Pilgrimage from Our Restoration Nation,” Kevin said.

A number of Bed and Breakfast and short-term rental owners reported to the Berrys that they were sold out during the two PGC weekends.

“The Natchez Grand Hotel was completely sold out the second weekend,” Kevin said.

“People told us Natchez no longer has a commodity, that the commodity is too outdated and no one wants to look at old houses anymore. They said no one will come from more than a day’s drive away. They complained that Natchez has no airline service and it’s too hard to get to. The results of this PGC Spring Pilgrimage completely dispel those myths about Natchez,” Laine said.

The question, the Berrys said, is what do we do from here?

“We are at a pivotal moment. Either we grow from here, or we go backward,” Kevin said. “It is imperative that we use what we have learned to reinvent the way we market Natchez to the consumer. The changes made it so much easier for the homeowners and it made more money — in fact, it made them more than twice the money for the homeowners.”

“If this is once and done, then Natchez loses,” Laine said.

Marsha Colson, president of the Pilgrimage Garden Club, agreed with the Berrys that this year’s Pilgrimage was a success. “We were very happy with the visitors that came,” Colson said.

However, whether the shortened format will continue next year, Colson said, “It’s too early to tell. A lot of people will be involved in that decision.”