Cruise ship influx brings mini-boom

Three cruise ships at the Port of Tauranga yesterday - Voyager of the Seas, Seabourn Odyssey and Seven Seas Mariner. Photo / George Novak

The Bay's cruise ship season has peaked with nearly 17,000 passengers spilling out on to the Port of Tauranga's wharves in the last five days.

With the six-month season expected to boost the region's economy by $45 million, the arrival of 10 ships in five days created a mini-boom in an already visitor-filled city.

It reached its height yesterday when Tauranga's wharfside information centre had its busiest day handling some of the 4000 passengers from three cruise ships.

Hundreds booked through the i-Port for the first triple ship visit of the 2014-15 cruise season, highlighting how more passengers were opting to do their own thing rather than go on pre-arranged tours offered by the cruise ship companies.

Tourism BOP's head of marketing Kristin Dunne told the Bay of Plenty Times it was their biggest day since the wharfside information centre opened two years ago.

The destinations of those that booked through the i-Port reflected how an increasing number of passengers were staying local rather than heading to Rotorua or Hobbiton, near Matamata. Its last analysis two weeks ago revealed 55 per cent were opting to stay in the Western Bay - up on 50 per cent from earlier years.

Ms Dunne said a few booked short tours around the Western Bay while others used Hopper buses to take in Tauranga attractions such as The Elms, the Art Gallery and Classic Flyers.

"The downtown Tauranga bus was proving really popular," she said.

Others, particularly visitors from countries other than Australia, were choosing Kiwi360 and Comvita.

Ms Dunne said an amble around Mount Maunganui continued to be a popular option for free and independent passengers, with others tackling Mauao.

Ten ambassadors greeted passengers on the wharf, with a further 10 staff handling inquiries and bookings in the i-Port which passengers had to pass through in order to reach the port gates.

Reasons why fewer passengers were choosing to visit Rotorua's thermal attractions included the cost for the large number of family-oriented budget cruises and those on return cruises who had already seen Rotorua.

A new feature of Tourism BOP's port operation was an i-Ticket booth outside the port gates for passengers who streamed out to the parks filled by independent tour operators.

Ms Dunne said Tourism BOP was conscious that the popularity of the Port of Tauranga for visiting cruise ships was its proximity to the international tourist icons of Rotorua and Hobbiton.