Cr Paul Hudson made the comment at yesterday's economic development committee meeting, as councillors considered a long-awaited cruise industry report first prepared in February 2009.
The report - the result of a survey of 300 passengers from three cruise ships which called at Dunedin - said that overall, passengers visiting Dunedin were highly satisfied with their experience, but identified areas needing further work.
Cr Hudson told the meeting Dunedin had been sliding down the rankings of cruise-ship destinations as other ports and cities committed to spending more on facilities and visitor experiences.
He urged the council to set more priorities to improve passengers' visitor experiences, "otherwise we run the risk of Dunedin being downgraded further".
Areas identified that could be improved included the need for an i-Site centre at cruise-ship berths, improved signs, acceptance of foreign currency by more retailers, improved maps, internet and telephone access at berths, and welcomes and farewells for ships.
"I don't know that we as a city are putting enough into this to maintain our position within the cruise ship industry."
Cr Neil Collins agreed, saying existing facilities "leave a lot to be desired" for passengers.
In one case, passengers who disembarked at Port Chalmers were left "huddling" in the rain awaiting buses.
Drenched, some returned to the ship, he said.
Deputy mayor Syd Brown said the council should find out the needs of cruise-ship operators.
"If they chose not to come here, it doesn't matter what experience we give to the passengers, they won't come to our port."
Council economic development unit manager Peter Harris agreed the issues were "challenging", but sounded a note of caution.
Port Otago and Tourism Dunedin staff had held a debrief after the last cruise-ship season and were working on a new strategy.
The council was waiting for the results, and a "tourism summit" was planned for July which would give interested parties an overview of the issues, he said.
The report was prepared by the University of Otago's department of marketing, in partnership with Tourism Dunedin, Port Otago, the Otago Chamber of Commerce and Dunedin Host.
