New Zealand Cruise Association chief executive Kevin O'Sullivan made the estimate, which was up 10% on 2018-19's $60 million in passenger spending, at a pre cruise-season briefing yesterday.
From October to April the city is expected to host 130 ships, compared with 115 last season, which will contain 252,000 passengers, up on a previous 237,800.
''It will inject $66 million into the local economy, which is nothing to be sneezed at.''
In response to an audience question about the emissions of cruise ships, he said from January the cruise industry worldwide was changing to either lower-emission fuel or scrubbers, which would remove nitrogen and sulfates from the vessels' exhaust.
''There is a very strong move already by the cruise industry to lower emissions.''
Port Otago cruise manager Carolyn Bennett said the cruise industry in Dunedin continued to grow.
''As you can see, it's going to keep on increasing, which is great for everyone involved.''
There were 95 registered private tour operators in the city, although this seemed to be increasing, she said.
This meant the port needed to make changes to its booking system to make it ''more robust'', she said.
''We're getting a lot more from different cultures, so we're just making sure everyone is a legitimate business.''
All companies would have to re-register with the port and submit more information than they did previously.
There were also stricter rules concerning parking and registering, to negate some issues the port had last season.
For example, at times, parked vehicles blocked timber trucks from entering a shed.
The port was also pushing against ''touting'', or operators harassing passengers with their businesses at the port.
''Touting is not something that cruise wants New Zealand wide ... break the rules and get your entry rights revoked,'' she said.
