Tourism tax receipts reflecting how many dollars were spent on meals and room rentals for the year indicate more people visited the River City so far this year than in 2006, said Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Bill Seratt.

“It’s up 16 percent over last year,” Seratt said Thursday. “That’s the best year Warren County and Vicksburg has ever had,” he told Lt. Gov.-elect Phil Bryant and a group of Mississippi senators, in town for the day on a pre-session tour. Lawmakers convene Jan. 8 for what will likely be a 90-day session.

The VCVB’s revenue is from a 1 percent tax on food, alcohol beverages sold in bars and rooms rented by the night. It has brought in $976,943.61, which reflects a 16 percent increase from $883,566.84 for the previous 12 months.

Seratt, tapped for the job in April, attributed the increase to having a “more consistent message” with marketing strategies to promote the area.

Bryant and about 30 senators buzzed around town on a charter bus that hit Vicksburg hot spots. In addition to VCVB representatives, the group included representatives of the Mississippi Development Authority’s Division of Tourism, the Mississippi Tourism Association and Frontier Strategies, the state’s advertising agency. They were in Vicksburg for about six hours with stops at the Mississippi Welcome Center, Anchuca and the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Park historian Terry Winschel spoke during a lunch at Anchuca, touting the park’s economic impact on Vicksburg. The 1,800-acre preserve brings about 100 million tourism dollars to the city each year, Winschel said.

Bryant, a Brandon native who defeated Democratic challenger Jamie Franks in the Nov. 6 general election said he remembers visiting the park when he was a child. “I was the youngest of three boys, and there’s a photo of us in the park taken in the 1960s,” he said. “I also used to do the Run Thru History when I was younger.” The annual run is one of the oldest and largest sanctioned by the Mississippi Track Club and is held each March.

Bryant plans to pay close attention to tourism development when he takes his post in January. “Tourism is such a vital part of our economy. The military park is such an important part. It draws people from all over the United States,” he said. “People can’t get enough of the Civil War. We need to take advantage of that.”

Among the senators in town was newly elected District 23 Sen. Briggs Hopson, who won the seat formerly being vacated by Mississippi Insurance Commissioner-elect Mike Chaney. Hopson said Thursday’s tour of his hometown was good for understanding the importance of tourism.

“It’s a great economic development tool,” he said.

He echoed Winschel’s sentiments on the park’s contribution to tourism.

“Green is an important aspect of tourism,” Hopson said. “You want to bring in money, which helps the state and local economies.”

The board of the VCVB met later, the last meeting of the year for the tourism agency. Seratt reported that tax revenue totals for December were up 11 percent — $79,411.13 over $68,823.55 in 2006. In closed session, the board voted to eliminate one staff position and create another and made a salary adjustment. After changes were approved, they voted to accept the revised employee handbook.