New figures from Stats NZ showed that cruise industry goes on picking up steam in New Zealand, via total cruise expenditure for the year ended in June reaching $43,4 million.
This is an increase of 18.3% on last year's figures, while the growth of $67.1 million in 2017 was also itself nearly a 10% increase on 2016.
For the year, GST intake from cruise ship visitor spending totalled $43.4 million.
Image: Port of Auckland (New Zealand)
In 2017, a total of 259,000 people took a cruise. The growth was partially driven by increase in the number of Americans and Kiwis taking a trip around New Zealand.
Port of Auckland received 211,000 passengers, which is up 9% on the previous year, while port of Dunedin received 11% more with 180,000 guest arrivals.