The Tourist Commission met Tuesday night, Aug. 16. Arlene Gould, director of the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (NACVB) said they are on track financially despite cuts to their Visitor Enterprise Funding.

The state funding, which is part of the NACVB’s budget is a rebate from sales tax. The amount was cut from $130,000 to $100,000 and then an additional $7,000 was cut during the special session. The NACVB only collected $93,000.

“We take our licks just like everyone else,” said Gould.

While July’s report for June tax collections showed a decrease in the numbers, Gould says last year’s higher amount ($44,000 last year vs. $33,061 this year) reflected back taxes that were collected during that month.

The report for June visitation showed increased numbers with 78 international visitors. Gould explained that this is the vacation time of the year for international tourists. Forty seven of these were from France, 10 were from Canada and seven were from Trinidad. Other countries included Australia, Austria, Spain, South Africa, Belgium, England, Guatemala and Ireland.

The total guest number was 1,348, which included the international visitors, 436 visitors from Louisiana, 457 from Texas and 383 from the rest of the country. The total for visitors to attractions in the Parish was 8,646.