Cruise ship visits were welcome at a time when visitor arrivals to New Zealand were still suffering from the global financial crisis, strong New Zealand dollar and effects of the Canterbury earthquakes, Dunedin City Council business development adviser Sophie Barker said.
''On average, each passenger spends $125, which is a very welcome contribution to our city's economy. The beautiful summer we have had has helped get the cruise passengers off the ships and out spending their money.''
Cruise visitors accounted for about 8% of visitors to Dunedin and were increasing every year, Ms Barker said.
''Almost 90% of all cruise ships that visit New Zealand come to Dunedin and about 80% of their passengers disembark when they get here. It adds so much vibrancy to the centre of the city. Dunedin is also very fortunate that we're either the first or the last port.''
Dunedin has an average of 5500 visitors a day. Council finance, strategy and development committee chairman Syd Brown said a theme of the economic development strategy was to showcase Dunedin as a compelling visitor destination.
''Satisfied cruise visitors provide great word of mouth for the city,'' he said.
The Cruise Action Group, which consists of representatives from the council, Port Otago, Dunedin Host, University of Otago, Otago Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Dunedin, would assess the season at its conclusion, Ms Barker said.
''At the end of every season, the cruise action group sits down and works out what went well, what didn't and what we could do better.''
Eighty-nine cruise ships were scheduled for this summer season but bad weather caused the cancellation of four visits.
So far, 87 ships were booked for the 2013-14 cruise ship season, she said.
