Dunedin had a flood of visitors yesterday, thanks to the unexpected and longer-than-usual visit of a cruise ship.
Oosterdam sailed into Port Chalmers about noon yesterday.
Forecast bad weather in the Tasman will keep the ship here until tomorrow evening and within two hours of its arrival no more than 200 people remained on board.
Oosterdam carries 2000 passengers.
i-Site Dunedin Visitor Centre manager Louise van de Vlierd said the centre's port marquee, and its Dunedin office, were ''busier than we've ever been''.
''Everybody got off the ship. [It was] absolutely crazy.''
Dunedin bus tour operator BookaTour's Bex Hill, whose company offers tours of the city and its sights, was in Port Chalmers yesterday touting for business and filled two tours in two and a-half hours.
She had 12 bookings before the ship arrived, and by early afternoon had 90.
On Tuesday, the call went out from the Dunedin City Council that the ship was making an unexpected visit, and passengers ''will no doubt be looking for some great Dunedin experiences during their stay''.
Ms van de Vlierd yesterday said the response from tourism operators had been ''immediate''.
Halloween today would add to the mix.
''There's Halloween parties all round the central city. All our standard operators, our city tours, Larnach Castle, our wildlife, our walking tours'' had stepped up to offer extra tours.
Ms van de Vlierd said the beauty of the unexpected visit was that ventures such as night-time blue penguin viewing at Pilot's Beach, which passengers could not usually do because they had to depart, could be enjoyed by cruise visitors.
Every visit was different, but the financial benefits from the stopover were expected to be significant, Ms van de Vlierd said.
