The 2019/2020 cruise ship season is upon us, with the first cruise ship MS Maasdam, set to arrive in Tauranga on October 6.
With thousands of tourists set to step foot in the Bay of Plenty, Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne says she finds it most inspiring to see so many locals watching cruise ships come into port or wave the passengers goodbye.
'The manaakitanga and welcoming spirt of our locals are what our visitors leave raving travellers. Seeing locals helping cruise passengers with directions or other information is what ensures they have amazing experiences in our region.”
Kristin says The Bay of Plenty is naturally beautiful and there is a huge variety of attractions that passengers can enjoy.
'Our region offers a unique combination of Aotearoa's best beaches and diverse ocean life, stunning natural landscapes and landmarks such as Mauao and White Island, and Maori culture.
'The Bay of Plenty is also the fruit bowl of the nation. Tauranga has the busiest cruise tour port of any New Zealand port.”
This cruise ship season Kristin says the region will welcome more than 300,000 passengers and crew from 112 ships including 25 double ship days, one triple ship day, and four overnight stays.
Last season, Tauranga had the second-largest total spending by port. In the year ended June 2019, cruise activity spending in Tauranga totalled $90.3 million.
6 comments
Spin
Posted on 27-09-2019 07:54 | By TCTOA12
Yes that is fantastic and we are so lucky to live in this beautiful area and share it with so many visitors . What Ms Dunne does not tell you is if you want TBOP to sell your tours then a levy of $7,000 per season plus commision applies . This organization should stay with the core business not clipping the ticket for visitors , their model does not work and on average they lose approx $90,000 per season which is funded by the ratepayer . The model does not work as travelers are internet savvy and pre book with private operators . Now they want to spend $5 million on a visitor center when it was they that closed the original one back in 2012 , citing a lack of foot traffic . There has been many instance of harassment from this organization towards operators tosilencethem!
Greedy
Posted on 27-09-2019 11:19 | By peecee09
TBOP should be assisting everyone who tries to give tourists a good time instead of ripping them off for their hard earned income. How about TBOP putting pressure on the Council to fix the Mount track instead.
If
Posted on 27-09-2019 15:37 | By usandthem
what you say is correct,and it seems that is the case,the various tour companys need to get together and lodge a complaint to the Tauranga council or go to the media.It is well known that TBOP has always been porely run with an attitude that the ratepayers will forever bail them out.
Meet with Tourism Bay of Plenty
Posted on 27-09-2019 16:35 | By TBOP
Tourism Bay of Plenty is proud to be a not-for-profit organisation that works with local tourism operators to build a strong visitor economy for our community. Chief Executive Kristin Dunne is happy to meet with all those who are interested to discuss the cruise industry and dispel misinformation. Please call the office on 07 577 6234 to set up a time.
TCTOA12, got that......
Posted on 29-09-2019 20:27 | By groutby
...I hope we have a response from TBOP, as many have suspected that this is the case..so we wait to hear...and wait,,,and wait...and we (ratepayer) pay...
Spin & more spin
Posted on 30-09-2019 07:55 | By TCTOA12
The local media have been made well aware of TBOP trying to create a monopoly and favoring one large tour operator against others . The current mayor & councilors are very aware of the situation but both media , mayor & councilors turn a blind eye to this corruption. This has been happening now for many years and why so many past operators have left in frustrated and disillusioned with TBOP’s control of the Port . They were asked by independents if a small space was available to offer passengers that there was a choice of which Tours passengers could take . Their reply , oh no we can’t cant do that we don’t support commercial activity on the Port. The I site even employ a guy who directs arriving passengers away from the carpark where operators are waiting back to their selling booth .
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