He said Priority One was working on a couple of opportunities for investment in tourism infrastructure, but it was too early to disclose what they were.
An internationally branded hotel and conference centre was part of the council's Heart of the City initiative.
Mr Tutt said a hotel had the most potential and was crucial to increasing visitor spend.
"If visitors don't have a place to stay, then we are on a hiding to nothing."
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne also stressed the need for an internationally branded hotel and conference centre.
She was getting more contacts from private enterprise looking at putting tourism products in place. The tourism market in the Bay had grown by 45 per cent over the last three years, with the total visitor spend reaching $953m - up $368m.
Tauranga had to make sure it was a welcoming and enabling city to attract investment in tourist attractions.
"There are definitely some good potential options."
It needed one or two attractions with compelling points of difference, no matter what the time of the year. The more local government showed support for tourism, the more attractive Tauranga would be to investors, she said.
Council city events manager Gareth Wallis said the major events fund was targeting off-season events.
The World Junior Squash Championships held in Tauranga in July was an example of the council getting behind major events. The championships booked out the Trinity Wharf Hotel for two and a-half weeks.
"That is the sort of thing we are looking to do more of if we can."
The council's events team was working on future opportunities, with many in the off-peak.
Tauranga Mainstreet chairman Brian Berry said the city needed to focus on attracting more events.
He highlighted the success of the Paradox Inside exhibition in which close to 50,000 people went to the Tauranga Art Gallery from March 28 to June 15 - nearly as many as visited the gallery in a whole year. He suggested a think tank could be held on how to attract more events.
His other priority to smooth out cash flows was a conference centre.
Mount Mainstreet chairwoman Jane Debenham said they wanted to increase foot traffic in the shopping centre in the winter and were aiming to run an event next July.
"The summer looks after itself. We need to attract more people in the winter to help businesses get through to the warmer weather."
Mount gift and souvenir shops owner Ian New said winter trading had been okay, helped by rugby fans doing a bit of sightseeing while they were following the Lions. Their quietest month was normally September.