Sea Life Park announced today it will lay off 44 full-time and part-time employees in response to the slump in the tourism industry.

Park general manager Jesus Bravo blamed the action on a decline in park attendance traced to the downturn in visitor arrivals.

"Among the laid-off employees are temporary hires for the peak summer months who would normally have been kept on until the end of August," Bravo said.

The exact breakdown of seasonal hires versus long-term employees was not immediately available. "These are all good employees, but unfortunately, given the loss in revenues, we have no option but to cut back on operating costs."

"We are saddened to have to take this step," Bravo said.

In March, the Makapu'u attraction was sold to Parques Reunidos Group, one of the world`s largest amusement park companies.

Parques Reunidos, which is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, purchased Sea Life Park from Dolphin Discovery, the Mexico-based company that had owned the 22-acre attraction since January 2005.

Dolphin Discovery renovated the aging park and expanded the dolphin interaction program.

The previous program consisted of a dockside encounter in which parkgoers were allowed to touch the dolphins and give them commands at a price of $69 for adults. The new program allows for much closer and wetter encounters, including "the Royal Swim," where two dolphins give visitors a dorsal fin ride at a cost of $199.