Growth from this year's cruise ship season is up 12 per cent on last year with a projected increase of 25,000 passengers and crew visiting the city for the 2013/14 season.

More than 240,000 cruise ship passengers and crew are expected this season, making the region the third most visited in New Zealand, behind Auckland and Wellington.

The luxurious Queen Elizabeth makes its way into the Port of Tauranga on Monday.

Forecasts for the current season show Australian passengers continue to dominate arrivals with 80,012 visiting the Bay. This is followed by 33,289 Americans and 10,562 from the United Kingdom. Domestic travellers make up just over 6000 arrivals.

These projections represent an injection of $45 million into the local economy, says Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager, Rhys Arrowsmith.

'Cruise ship passengers are a growing group of travellers to the region, and we expect numbers to continue to increase,” says Rhys.

'The Bay of Plenty has so much to offer tourists, from the laidback sophistication of the region, to the variety of attractions, both free and paid, we are proud of our region and the growing opportunity to share it with the world,” he says.

'It's positive to see so many local retailers making the most of the influx of cruise ship visitors by offering promotions, value adds and welcome signs to appeal to passengers. This is a sign that the industry is only going to grow and we are looking forward to welcoming hundreds of thousands more passengers in the future.”

Tourism Bay of Plenty cruise manager Esther Goldsworthy says more than half of passengers to the Bay of Plenty stay locally.

'Of the cruise ship travellers who are arriving on our shores, approximately 45 per cent are choosing to book tours to Rotorua, Hobbiton or Tauranga, and the remaining 55 per cent are staying locally and visiting the Mount or Tauranga City. The flows on effects from these visitors to our region are significant.”

The tentative schedule for the 2014/15 season is looking to be on par with this season, with 81 ship visits already booked.

The last cruise ship is set to depart on May 13.