This sort of thinking harmed the industry, a Port Otago executive said, leading to many people overseas thinking New Zealand was shut to passenger ships.
And the suggestion that no benefits were being gained by ships visiting Milford Sound was also lampooned.
If Milford Sound was not available to cruise ships, none of them would come to the South Island, Port Otago customer general manager Craig Usher said.
‘‘Milford is the jewel in the crown. No Milford and the rest of the regions will suffer,’’ he said.
‘‘The Milford part is interesting. Don’t forget, the ships pay money to go into Milford. That money goes to Environment Southland which then goes to the ratepayers of Southland. It is a significant amount.’’
A sustainable tourism expert said 69% of cruise ship passengers went to Milford Sound, but spent nothing there.
Mr Usher said cruise ships were bringing people into Dunedin, who would not be here otherwise
‘‘They’re spending money and then they’re going to the next regional destination and spending money. When you look at the current economic environment I’m quite grateful they’re here.’’
He said the cruise ship business was very competitive and New Zealand had to work hard to get ships down here.
‘‘We’re really trying to sort of get that message home that we’re open for business because there’s a perception — there has been a perception for years — that New Zealand is not open for business.’’
He said it could not be all blamed on Covid, but it seemed like there was an anti-everything feel around the industry by some.
He said issues around biofouling, the Milford Opportunities Group wanting to block out Milford, and the constant singling out of the negatives of cruising were obstacles to the cruise business but solutions had been found.
Like many things, it was just a minority speaking, he said.
He disagreed with the figure quoted that cruise tourism accounted for about 1% of total New Zealand tourism expenditure.
Passengers spent more of their money off the boat than on.
There had been vast improvements in the environment work done by cruise ships, he said.
Enterprise Dunedin interim Dunedin destination manager Teresa Fogarty said cruise tourism was a significant part of Dunedin’s visitor economy.
In a recent Enterprise Dunedin survey, Dunedin operators estimated that 34% of their summer business came from cruise passengers, and many locals ran tours specifically for the cruise market
‘‘The overall value of a cruise passenger is higher than other forms of travel as cruise trips deliver a taste of several destinations, with passengers often making return visits to spend longer in destinations they enjoyed,’’ she said.
Over the 2025-26 season Dunedin welcomed just over 110,000 cruise passengers from 78 ships.
The direct spend in the city’s retail, food and beverage sites and tour operators was $43.6 million.
‘‘Beyond the direct spend by passengers, cruise tourism supports local jobs and the wider regional economy — equating to around $93.5 million to Dunedin economy from this cruise season.
There were 148,500 passengers in the 2024-25 year and 183,600 passengers in the 2023-24 season, equating to an economic impact of $126m and $156m respectively.
