Attracting Tourists to the Mississippi Delta

In the Mississippi Delta, life is never far from the blues -- a challenge and an opportunity for those promoting tourism there.

Already, millions of people visit, drawn by nine casino resorts in Tunica County that pump more than $2 billion a year into the region's economy.

But a short drive and a world away lies the real Delta -- stretching from just beyond the glitzy gambling halls all the way to the magnolia-shaded lanes of Natchez.

Here, amid some of the nation's richest soil and poorest people, are the sharecroppers' shacks, cotton fields, small towns and juke joints where the blues was born -- music that slaves first sang about the hardships of life.

Now a new effort is under way to market this aspect of the Delta to tourists. But just how do you attract visitors to a region once-famous for poverty and a violent history of racism?

Interesting story. More here.