The 2012-13 season, which began last weekend, will be a record for Southland. Over the next five months, 26 ships will bring more than 162,000 passengers during 92 visits.
Most of the vessels will cruise the fiords while some will stop at Stewart Island.
In a report released on Wednesday, Cruise New Zealand forecast the added value to Southland from cruise ships this season would be $6.7 million and would directly support 94 jobs.
Venture Southland is about to do four separate surveys: with 200 Fiordland and Stewart Island business operators; with organisations directly involved with the ships such as provedores; with coastal community groups; and with passengers.
They were expected to be completed by March, Venture Southland community development team leader Bobbi Brown said yesterday.
The aim was to provide a snapshot of the industry now and identify business opportunities for the future, she said.
Surveying passengers would give a better understanding of who was visiting, their expectations and their needs.
Southland was unique in the southern hemisphere in having a deed of agreement which required cruise ships entering the controlled waters of the fiords pay a fee to Environment Southland, that organisation's policy and planning manager, Ken Swinney, said.
Fees totalled $1.6 million last season and the money was directly spent on coastal management programmes, including navigational safety, policy and planning and coastal science, he said.
The fund was also an insurance against the cost of cleaning up environmental problems if vessels grounded or sank, he said.
"Because of their size, these ships are a potential risk to the environment," Mr Swinney said.
The economic impact of cruise ship passenger spending was low, Mr Swinney said.
"Southland can't get as much economic benefit from passengers because they don't land here like they do in ... Auckland or Port Chalmers."
About 15 to 20 visits were made to Stewart Island each season but generally only half the passengers disembarked, he said. Only a small number wanted to eat a meal but some passengers spent money on souvenirs or coffee.
Vessels visiting the fiords generally completed "a bus route from south to north" and no passengers disembarked, Mr Swinney said.
However, he was aware of a small number of passengers who disembarked at Port Chalmers and flew to Queenstown for the day by helicopter before flying by helicopter to Milford Sound to rejoin the cruise.
Venture Southland's research would provide a better picture of the industry and what economic benefits might be able to be developed for Southland businesses, Mr Swinney said.
