Tauranga Cruise Season Set to Bring 200,000 Visitors

Tauranga expects more than 200,000 cruise passengers and crew during a 79-call season running from October 13 to April 13. Celebrity Edge will open the schedule. Local businesses are looking to the arrivals to help them recover after the fatal Mauao landslide.

Call numbers are up from last season’s 77, although scheduled passenger capacity is lower at 140,057, compared with 143,647. Expected crew numbers have also edged down, from 63,614 to 63,384.

“We’re very pleased our region has managed to maintain a steady stream of cruise ship bookings,” said Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan.

Celebrity Edge has nine visits scheduled. Nathan said the largest regular visitor would be the 347-metre Anthem of the Seas, which is booked for four calls.

The calendar includes 11 days with two cruise ships in port. Ships berth on the Mount Maunganui side of Tauranga Harbour, near the waterfront and Salisbury Avenue, where nine volunteer ambassadors and portside operators will welcome passengers ashore.

The coming season remains below the 94 visits recorded in 2024-25, which followed 109 calls the previous season. Cruise activity in 2024-25 generated NZ$101.6 million in economic output across Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty and Whakatāne, supporting 669 jobs.

Mount Maunganui businesses prepare for visitors

Mount Business Association business improvement manager Jay Banner said businesses had endured an “incredibly tough” year after the landslide, which killed six people and disrupted trading at the height of summer. He said cruise arrivals would play “a big part in helping them get back on their feet”.

Mauao, a Māori-owned historic reserve and ancestral mountain, remains affected by track closures. Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale said access would be restored when it was safe, and that returning cruise visitors would help businesses affected by the closure of the mountain and surrounding facilities.

Nathan said the effect of the track closures on cruise passenger spending was difficult to predict. Regional visitor spending had largely followed patterns in other major New Zealand destinations, he said, suggesting that several factors were influencing travellers’ choices.

The business association is introducing Footprints of the Mount, a self-guided heritage route through Pilot Bay, Main Beach and Marine Parade. Its 10 stops have signs and QR codes; visitors can use the Oasis NZ app to learn about local history and earn points towards rewards.

Banner said the association also had a scavenger hunt, summer events, park games and sporting events planned. He encouraged residents to visit local shops and hospitality businesses on cruise days and welcome passengers.

The council is working with the association and Tourism Bay of Plenty to attract visitors and encourage longer stays in the area. Drysdale said the Mayoral Relief Fund had backed activities intended to bring people into Mount Maunganui and support local businesses.

Benefits extend to Rotorua

RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson welcomed the cruise traffic. “Their visits support a wide range of local businesses,” he said of cruise passengers, naming attractions, excursion operators, hospitality venues and retailers, and adding that they “provide a welcome boost to the wider Rotorua economy”.

RotoruaNZ will continue helping passengers find and book experiences through its visitor information services, while promoting the destination to the travel trade.

Nathan, who is also deputy chairman of the NZ Cruise Association, said he was working with the Government, Tourism NZ and the Port of Tauranga to communicate New Zealand’s ambitions for a larger share of the global cruise market. Economic figures for the 2025-26 cruise season are due in five to six weeks, he said.