Cruise ship season drawing near for Bay of Plenty

The Golden Princess was the second-to-last cruise ship to visit Tauranga in the 2018/2019 season. Photo / File

Tauranga's cruise ship season is drawing near, with the arrival of the first vessel scheduled in just over a week.

On October 6, the 220m long MS Maasdam will dock at the Port of Tauranga from 7am to 6.30pm.

Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive officer Kristin Dunne encouraged residents to come down to Pilot Bay from 6pm to farewell the MS Maasdam.

"I'd love to see locals bring a picnic, maybe some fish and chips, watch the sunset, wave off our first cruise passengers for the season, and enjoy the start of summer.

"The Bay of Plenty is renowned for its manaakitanga and we want our cruise passengers to feel that welcoming spirit," Dunne said.

The temporary Satellite Mount Maunganui i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, established for the last two cruise seasons, will again be erected at the Port of Tauranga entrance.

Cruise ship activity brings significant benefits to the Bay of Plenty including the $90.3m boost the economy received during the 2018 to 2019 season.

Last season Tauranga had the second-largest total spending by port in New Zealand.

This season the region will welcome approximately 306,461 passengers and crew from 112 ships including 25 double ship days, one triple ship day, and four overnight stays.