The sudden influx of thousands of extra people in the city is expected to make it one of the busiest weeks of the year and bring a multimillion-dollar boost to the local economy at a time when local businesses really need it.
The Viking Venus arrived in Dunedin yesterday; the Viking Orion (up to 1443 passengers) arrives today for a two-day stay; tomorrow there will be a university graduation parade at 11am in George St, followed by two graduation ceremonies at the Dunedin Town Hall (1pm and 4pm), as well as the additional arrival of the Discovery Princess cruise ship (up to 3660 passengers) — all of which will bring thousands of people to the city centre.
Then on Thursday, the Noordam (1916 passengers) and the Scenic Eclipse II (228 passengers) will be in Dunedin for the day.
On Saturday, there will be another University of Otago graduation parade and two more graduation ceremonies at the Dunedin Town Hall.
So, an abundance of patience and courtesy may be needed during manoeuvres around the city this week.
Enterprise Dunedin destination manager Teresa Fogarty said it would create a "wonderful" environment for visitors.
"The city’s going to come to life.
"We’ll have everybody in town for the university — so not just the students celebrating all of their achievements, but all of their families will be coming as well."
Over time, visitors had come to realise Dunedin was not just a place for a student experience, it was also an experience for the whole family when they came to visit, she said.
"Every time we get people into Dunedin, we’re changing that old perception that people around the country might have had of Dunedin, and people are wanting to come back time and time again.
"People come down and feel like they haven’t spent enough time in Dunedin.
"That’s certainly something we hear from the cruise ships as well."
The visits prompted many visitors to plan longer stays in the future.
"So not only is it busy now, but it will keep the city building and getting busier year on year, which is what we love," Ms Fogarty said.
She believed the influx of visitors would bring millions of dollars into the local economy this week.
"This week is one of our big weeks and it’s lovely to see that before the end of the year.
"Obviously, the Christmas shopping is still going as well and we have a number of [university] events happening.
"Every time we have those cruise ships come in, it’s incredible the amount of money that they spend in the local economy.
"For a lot of those hospitality and tourism people, that uptake in the busy summer period is where a lot of those tourism operators are able to sustain themselves throughout the year."
It was hoped the "real bumper week" for the retail, hospitality and tourism would continue to grow over the summer.
The city had been marketing itself on Queensland’s Gold Coast, encouraging Australians to fly to Dunedin on Jetstar to escape the sweltering summer heat there.
"If you look at the temperatures over there on the Gold Coast, a lot of days they can’t be out for long periods of time because it’s just too hot," Ms Fogarty said.
"So we’ve really been pushing for them to come to Dunedin, where they can enjoy the summer and actually be able to be outside.
"We’re calling it a ‘cool-cation’."
Nine more cruise ships were also due to visit the city before the end of the year.
"With that in the mix, the hospitality and tourism sector is going to go up."
