The Hawaii Tourism Authority's budget committee lowered yesterday its fiscal year 2009 budget to $71 million from $88 million due to lower visitor counts.

Based on the financials, $88 million was unrealistic, according to HTA interim Chief Executive Lloyd Unebasami.

With the shrinking pot, committee members were also faced with tough decisions on how to divide funds. They tussled over how to allocate some $1.41 million within the budget for more than three hours yesterday, including an extra $900,000 that became available after some golf tournaments were canceled last year.

Implementing native Hawaiian culture into tourism or more neighbor isle marketing? Greeting visitors at the airport or teaching tourists about safety while vacationing here?

Finally, the committee recommended allocating a total of $988,000 to restore existing programs as well as to create new ones. The committee, however, left the remaining $425,000 open for future determination.

The recommendation will be presented to the full HTA board at its regular meeting tomorrow.

The majority was allotted to restoring airport greeting programs - though at $450,000, it was half of what the HTA staff originally had recommended.

The second largest amount, $225,000, went to tourism product development, which includes giving $200,000 to the Waikiki Improvement Association to keep running its Sunset on the Beach movies, hula mound performances and Tiki torch lighting ceremonies.

The remaining $25,000 goes to a Jalpak program that brings hundreds of visitors to the state over the Fourth of July weekend for a hula competition.

At stake also was whether to restore funds to the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association, which in December suffered a 38 percent cut to its budget amounting to about $150,000.

At yesterday's meeting, the committee set aside $75,000 for NaHHA after shuffling some numbers around, and taking $50,000 that HTA staff originally allotted to the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, a program offering high school students hands-on learning experiences in tourism.

HTA board committee member Stephen Yamashiro was the lone vote against the committee's recommendation yesterday. The former Big Island mayor said repeatedly that the neighbor isles - which have been hardest hit - need more marketing dollars set aside for them.

Lulani Arquette, executive director of NaHHA, however, was relieved to learn of the recommended $75,000 allotted for the nonprofit. It would help NaHHA continue to run its operations and outreach programs, she said, as well as maintain partnerships.

It also would be able to create a cultural marketing resource guide.

NaHHA, founded in 1997 by the late George Kanahele and current business leader Kenneth Brown, runs programs that perpetuate authentic Hawaiian culture in tourism. Arquette described the nonprofit as the spoke of the wheel connecting native Hawaiian groups with businesses within the visitor industry.

“;When people come to Hawaii there are touching experiences that are hard to articulate in words,”; she said. “;It is seen, experienced and something we cannot lose in Hawaii.”;

In response to the budget cuts, Arquette said NaHHA already has closed its downtown Honolulu office to work from home, while staff has taken a 20 percent salary cut. The money left after cuts only could cover administrative costs.

The committee recommended setting aside $98,000 for research and planning - $48,000 to revise the tourism strategic plan and $50,000 to bring back the resident sentiment survey.

Another $90,000 was set aside for safety and security $40,000 for the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which helps visitors that are victims of crime while on vacation, and $50,000 to update the TravelSmart.com Web site as well as distribute brochures in multiple languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

Last, $50,000 also was set aside for work-force development with the goal of putting airport employees statewide in a Hawaiian hospitality training program.