As Tauranga's cruise season winds down, after setting a new record for tourist numbers, the focus is already on continuing to attract more visitors to the region next season.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Rhys Arrowsmith.

Tourism Bay of Plenty spokeswoman Kristin Dunne says it's been a 'really positive season” across the board in the coastal Bay of Plenty with more than 240,000 cruise passengers and crew visiting – an increase on last year – who spent an estimated $45 million in the region.

'We had 81 ships this season and we are very pleased with the results. It has been our busiest cruise season so far,” says Kristin.

While Tourism Bay of Plenty's team is excited about the 87 cruise ships booked for next season, general manager Rhys Arrowsmith is off on a month-long Asian and European promotion to attract more non-cruise international visitors.

Despite a 33 per cent increase in international non-cruise visitor nights in the year to January, the group still only accounts for 20 per cent of all visitor nights spent in the region, says Rhys.

This is part of the motivation behind Rhys's involvement in the Tauranga City Council's delegation visiting sister cities in Asia, where Kristin says they hope to gain leverage from a student exchange agreement being formalised in Yantai with the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waikato University.

'This has a strong impact on tours, as both students and their families will be spending visitor time and money in the Bay of Plenty, however more importantly they'll be returning to China as ambassadors for our region.”

Kristin says while Australians are still the biggest opportunity to boost international visitor numbers, Asia is also seen as a key prospect for the region.

'We will continue to work in with Tourism New Zealand on how to access the Asian market and take advantage of it. More Asian visitors to New Zealand means an opportunity for the Bay of Plenty.”

Other big tourism winners in the region this season include motels and hotels, which attracted more visitors who stayed longer – an extra 55,000 guest nights during December-January compared to the previous period.

The region's attractions have also been reaping benefits of a busy tourist season. Waimarino Adventure Park director Blair Anderson says the increase exceeded expectations in January and he's confident of achieving one of his best seasons ever. Newly-released figures show the region's key attractions saw total visitors jump by 26 per cent in the year to February, compared with the previous year.