Commercial tourism operators contacted reported numbers were down last year, but they remained optimistic trading conditions would improve this year.
Chocolate remains one of the city's strongest drawcards with Cadbury World reporting 114,500 paying visitors compared with 119,000 for the previous year, Cadbury World and Cadbury Events manager Kylie Ruwhiu-Rarawana said.
The prospect of the Rugby World Cup meant some people might have delayed their travel until this year, she said.
And the reason for Cadbury World's popularity?
"Chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate," she said.
However, interest in the Dunedin Chinese Garden appears to be waning. Visitor numbers plummeted by a quarter last year, from 47,000 to 34,900.
Manager Margo Reid said last year was a difficult environment for operators, and she was optimistic numbers would improve this year.
Numbers improved significantly in December, and the cruise-ship market, Rugby World Cup, and events such as Chinese New Year would help entice more paying customers, she said.
Also recording a reduction in visitor numbers was the Otago Museum tropical forest from 98,000 in 2009 to 87,600 in 2010.
"[It] remains a very popular paying attraction, particularly given economic conditions ... The reduction in visitors to the tropical forest is consistent with the percentage reduction in visitors to the whole museum," Otago Museum director exhibitions development planning Clare Wilson said.
Speight's Brewery tour manager Chris Snow said numbers were 6% down in a "tough year".
"For us, it was whether we chase something that wasn't there or tighten our belts a bit," Mr Snow said.
This year had started strongly, and two large cruise ships yesterday - Volendam and Diamond Princess - ensured full tours throughout the day.
Mr Snow said the World Cup was shaping up as an exciting time for the attraction, and planning was under way on how to capitalise.
Taieri Gorge Railway chief executive Murray Bond said he remained optimistic for 2011 as tourism numbers could not "go down any more".
The market had been flat for some time and the latter half of 2010 was even worse for the train operator, he said.
However, three tourist trains of 20 carriages were sold out yesterday - boosted by hundreds of extra passengers from the two visiting cruise ships.
The Dunedin City Council-owned company was planning several events centred on the Rugby World Cup, Mr Bond said.
Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton said the Rugby World Cup presented the province with an opportunity to show itself to a large number of international visitors.
More than 39,000 international visitors are expected by the end of the tournament's pool phase, during which Dunedin hosts matches between Scotland and Georgia, England and Romania, and Ireland and Italy.
