Now is not the time to cut funding to programs and organizations that are working to bring tourists to town, says the Yukon Convention Bureau's managing director.

Last year, the convention bureau's annual grant funding by the city was cut to $20,000 from its previous $30,000 level.

At a time when the world-wide economic recession will undoubtedly mean fewer tourists visiting the Yukon this year, conferences could boost those numbers, Maureen Bundgaard told council in a presentation at its meeting Monday night.

"We know that the coming years are not going to be easy on developing tourism of any kind," she said.

"If the conference market is doing well, I think that it behooves us, it behooves the city ... to really support that sector, that is the winning sector."

If last summer's trends are repeated in the upcoming season, tourism operators will be dependent on conferences to fill beds and seats, she said.

While the bureau's grant was cut, property taxes and fees for city services were increased, with council members stating the moves were made to deal with increasing costs of operating the city.

But figures for how much the city plans to spend on individual grants in 2009 have yet to be released as part of the operating budget.

At last night's meeting though, Bundgaard stressed the city would see a "marvelous return" on the money it puts into the convention bureau.

The first six months of this fiscal year saw conventions bring more than $4 million into the territory, which is higher than almost every other 12-month period the convention bureau has seen recently, she said.

The formula used to measure how much comes into the territory from conventions doesn't represent the full amount of money coming in from the meetings, Bundgaard told council.

"The other part of the story is a happy one, I think, but we need to reflect it," she said. "We work hard, and we've been working particularly hard this year to promote longer stays and add-on packages for conference goers."

The amount of cash coming into the territory from the additional packages to the conference rivals the money coming in from the conference itself.

And while the figures look at the territory as a whole, Bundgaard was quick to note Whitehorse is the major benefiting community from the meetings the convention bureau brings to town.

"The other communities and tourism operators have benefited, yes, but mainly from add-on packages," she said. "So I would like to remind people how important this is for Whitehorse."

While calling on the city to support the convention bureau, she also noted the bureau's members are extremely generous in supporting the organization, assisting with things like flights Outside, and hotel space.

Along with focusing on the additional packages to the conferences it helps bring to town, the bureau has also come up with a new system of tracking the value of in-kind support it receives, Bundgaard told council.

It means that every time an in-kind service is provided, the bureau will find out what the value would normally be and keep a record of it, she said when questioned by Coun. Florence Roberts.

While the bureau will continue its work bringing meetings and conferences to town, Sport Yukon is taking on sport tourism initiatives for now as more funding than is available would be needed for the bureau to take on the role, Bundgaard said when questioned about sport tourism by acting mayor Dave Stockdale.

Mayor Bev Buckway and Coun. Jan Stick were absent from last night's meeting.