Ms Semple said the number of spectators was also growing and she thought the city coped extremely well with the accommodation demand this year.
"We got creative and I think we really did well to handle that increase.
"We were absolutely delighted with how the week went and how the community got behind the event to make it such a success."
She said a lot of teams had already re-booked for 2018.
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said the event was "extremely successful".
"It's definitely one of the biggest things that the city hosts. I reckon it would have to be the fullest week of the year, just judging by the fact that...the accommodation seems to be booked out, the roads are busy, there's a certain buzz in the air."
He said all of that was great for Tauranga and he believed it was worth it, even if it did mean more traffic.
"I think we've got everything pretty well right - we're good hosts, we make it as easy as possible for the games and I think the fact that it all started here as well is going to be a fairly strong pull to keep it here."
Normally the city's climate was good as well, Mr Brownless said - "it just wasn't last week".
Tony Bullot, chairman of Accommodation New Zealand, Bay of Plenty, said the region's members had been full throughout the week.
"There was really no capacity for normal corporates looking for last minute accommodation, except many motels do hold some units for regulars."
Mr Bullot, also the owner/operator of 850 Cameron Motel, said most school groups were well behaved and "were obviously proud to be representing their schools on and off-field".
"Many schools were repeated reservations and also booked for next year before they left," he said.
Mr Bullot said Accommodation New Zealand members also fielded enquires from other schools for next year while this AIMS Games was still in progress.
Registration details for AIMS Games 2018 will be sent out in late February.
Every year Anchor AIMS Games tournament director Vicki Semple gets asked what her highlight of the week was.
As the tournament continued to grow, it was getting harder for her to answer that question - there were just so many sports and moments to choose from.
But Ms Semple said one memory in particular stood out from the others in 2017 and it involved the introduction of para-athletes to the AIMS Games.
"I was at the swimming on the Monday evening, the first night of the swimming event, and when those para-athletes got up to the blocks for the very first time, I just felt overcome with emotion," she said.
"The courage it took for those kids to get up there in front of their peers was so incredible."
Ms Semple said what happened after that was even more touching.
"As the para-swimmers came into their second length - heading for the wall to finish, to touch - the absolute impromptu cheering and embracing of them from the crowd was just so amazing. I felt so proud and so happy that we had introduced para-events."