KEY POINTS:
The cruise industry is expecting a record year but the growth in passenger numbers will test the country's infrastructure, says Cruise New Zealand.
Pre-bookings have been taken for 111,300 people for the 2007/2008 season - already up 72 per cent on the previous year's 64,800 passengers.
The season starts in October.
Cruise New Zealand chairman Craig Harris said the coming year's direct spend could be close to double the previous season's $249 million.
The industry interest body had been talking to stakeholders about the infrastructure needed to handle the growing demand, including ports, buses and activities.
"This season we believe it's going to be very tight.
"We'll be tested and in the 08/09 season there is already an increase in bookings," Harris said.
"There could be up to a 20 per cent increase, at which stage we will certainly have to develop new infrastructure."
Ships carrying 2900 passengers were now coming to New Zealand, compared with five years ago when 1000 people was considered large, Harris said.
There was also greater activity by cruise lines and new operators were entering the New Zealand market.
The number of port visits had doubled in three years to 437 ships docking during the 2006/2007 season.
"We will need to ensure that we don't have a series of small failures because the cruise industry would view that as a country failure."
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the growing number of cruise passengers gave tourism operators an opportunity to develop products especially for visitors on shore leave.
"Cruising is increasingly important to New Zealand's tourism industry, bringing more people in the quieter seasons and taking them to a wider spread of places," Hickton said.
More than 90 per cent of business was generated from the international cruise season running from late October to April.
North America was the most popular source market for passengers, making up 40 per cent of the cruise market.
Cruising along
* Next season pre-bookings up 72 per cent.
* Spending could reach nearly $500 million.
* $3964 economic impact of each passenger.
* Passengers often revisit independently.
