Tourism & cruise

Dunedin attracts about two million visitors annually, most coming from other parts of New Zealand.

We average 5,500 visitors daily, many of whom have made the trip south to see Dunedin’s renowned wildlife and heritage for themselves. A growing part of this sector is the cruise ship industry, which doubled in five years.

Enterprise Dunedin supports tourism by:

• facilitating the Dunedin Visitor Strategy
• offering a dedicated destination manager within Dunedin City Council to advocate for visitors and businesses.
• providing operator business support and advice.

Cruise Dunedin

The New Zealand cruise market has grown considerably over the past decade. The Dunedin cruise season runs from October to April.

Dunedin’s vision is ‘To  be the premier cruise destination in New Zealand, where passengers and crew  want to disembark and where, after a memorable experience, they want to return.’

Here are key facts about Dunedin’s cruise market:

• Dunedin receives approximately 88% of all cruise ship passengers visiting New Zealand
• of the passengers who visit Dunedin, at least 80% will disembark
• each passenger spends an average of $125
• of crew who visit, around 50% will disembark.

The cruise market has great potential to increase tourist numbers in Dunedin from ship passengers and crew, from those who return to Dunedin after the cruise and, indeed, from those who recommend Dunedin as a ‘must see’ visitor destination to others.

Cruise guides and schedules

Travel trade

Would you like to sell through travel agents and offer 10–25% commission rates? Check out the external links below to find out how to start.

• Tools for your business — developing your tourism business
• Wanting to market your tourism business internationally?
• How does the TEC Distribution System work?

Dunedin i-Site Visitor Centre

The i-SITE Dunedin Visitor Centre is open every day. The friendly folk there offer extensive local and national information and can book tours, accommodation, and so on for our visitors and residents. If you are a new operator in Dunedin, make sure to register with the Dunedin Visitor Centre —  if they know about your business, they can tell visitors about you and what you offer.

Read  more

List your business

Our website syndicates with different national data feeds. Enterprise Dunedin links to the following companies to make sure your listings are read by as many people as possible. Follow the links below to get your name out there.

Attractions, activities and accommodation: Tourism New Zealand
Online bookings: BookIt
Events: Eventfinder
Restaurants, cafés and bars: Zomato

Qualmark

Qualmark is New Zealand tourism’s official quality assurance organisation, providing a trusted guide for travellers wanting high quality places to stay, things to do, and ways to get around. A business displaying the Qualmark symbol meets stringent quality standards and environmental criteria  — follow the link below to find out how you can earn New Zealand tourism’s official quality mark.

Read  more on www.qualmark.co.nz

Enquiries

To find out more about using the Dunedin Brand and marketing your tourism experience, please contact Gil Abercrombie.

Related information

• Cruise Operators Guide Help Dunedin give our cruise visitors the best experience. Be a great ambassador for our city. This book has information and tips to help your business impress visitors.
• Cruise Ship Calendar 2016–2017 A month-by-month listing of cruise ship visits.
• Cruise Ship Retailers Top Tips These tips have been developed to help retailers understand the services cruise visitors need and expect.
• Cruise Ship Street Marketing Guide This code has been put together in consultation with the visitor industry and others to help new and established visitor services offer a great experience for visitors.
• Dunedin Cruise Ship Action Plan This document proposes a strategy for the Dunedin cruise industry to 2018.
• Dunedin Visitor Strategy This strategy has been prepared to guide tourism development in Dunedin between 2008 and 2015. It sets out a framework for achieving the vision for Dunedin and uses goals and guidelines to focus on specific areas.
• Māori Cultural Tourism Research Report This study was prepared for the Māori Advisory Group at the University of Otago and the Economic Development Unit of the Dunedin City Council.
• Norovirus and cruise ships’ advice for visitor industry Visitor industry operators should be aware that cruise ships are regularly affected by outbreaks of norovirus and plan accordingly.
• Tourism Signage Policy This policy guides the design, location and form of tourist attraction, visitor amenity and other facility signs in Dunedin. It outlines which tourism attractions and amenities are eligible for directional signage and who funds such    signs.
• Cruise New Zealand - www.cruisenewzealand.org.nz
• Dunedin City Council’s role in tourism
• Dunedin Host - dunedinhost.co.nz
• Port Otago - www.portotago.co.nz
• Research and statistics