Government and tourism leaders sent a letter this week to President Obama urging him to tread carefully when discouraging corporate travel because of recent cancellations of an estimated $58.8 million worth of group travel to Hawaii.

Gov. Linda Lingle released the letter publicly this morning, which she and the lieutenant governor signed along with the county mayors and 90 tourism and community officials. State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert confirmed today that the letter was sent late Tuesday.

"This current atmosphere that brands legitimate CMI (conventions, meetings and incentive) travel as excess has resulted in 132 group cancellations of meetings and incentive trips to Hawai'i so far this year and next, representing a loss of 87,003 room nights," the letter said.

"The total loss in direct revenue has been $58.8 million, amounting to an economic impact of $97.6 million in total lost output and 694 full- and part-time jobs from all of the visitor industry," it said.

The appeal was a response to the president's comments about discouraging corporate excess. On Feb. 9 during a town hall meeting in In Indiana, Obama said Wall Street executives must show restraint if they expect government help. "You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime."

The White House later clarified the president's remarks, after the mayor of Las Vegas sent a letter to Obama saying the comments were hurting the city's tourism buisness.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on March 12 said Obama did not intend to discourage travel with his remarks. Gibbs said the president was referring specifically to companies "that are getting large amounts of public funding."

Tourism advocates who met with Obama praised the White House statement.

The Lingle letter stressed that Hawaii visitors who come to the Islands for conventions, meetings and incentive rewards are a very important part of the visitor mix. In 2008, those visitors totaled 442,000, representing about 7 percent of total visitor arrivals.

The letter continued: "In this period of economic downturn when our government and businesses are striving to restore economic stability, the last thing we should do is implement policies or encourage behavior that jeopardizes any industry, especially one that has such a far-reaching impact on communities all across America."

It further raises concerns "about the adverse effects caused by the well-intentioned efforts to address the problem of corporate excess and business travel for the companies who have received emergency finding from the government."

That perception is fueling a further downturn in business travel in Hawaii, "where we have struggled to position our islands as a place to do business, as well as a leisure vacation destination," it said.

The letter also provides a brief recap of the recent tourism slump nationally and locally. "Hawaii's economy is largely dependent on tourism and the drop in activity has resulted in dramatic declines in our economy with a corresponding impact on businesses, including closures and job losses," the letter said.

The letter reviews the recent collaborative push for marketing and cheap deals for travelers to show what the state and industry are doing to try to compensate.

"Despite the emphasis on and effort at market outreach and value-laden promotional offers, we ended 2008 with a decline of 10.8 percent in arrivals, which resulted in a loss of $1.2 billion in visitor expenditures," the letter said.

But it goes on to warn that the state, tourism, workers and the community will be hurt by continued decline in corporate travel to Hawaii.

"While we understand the need for balance, accountability and transparency in programs supported by government funding, tourism is an industry that employs many workers who have lost — and will continue to — lose their jobs as travel declines," the letter said.

And it concludes: "We appreciate your recent comments encouraging travel and urge you to oppose any measure that would unfairly restrict the ability for companies to use CMI travel as a legitimate business tool."