The government published a report outlining the expenditure, origin and onshore activities of cruise ship passengers following a massive increase in arrivals in the 2016/17 season.

The Tasmanian Cruise Ship Passenger Survey found 61 per cent of visitors are female and two thirds were visiting Tasmania for the first time.

There’s an even split between Australian and international passengers statewide.

International passengers are slightly older than Australians and make up 73 per cent of arrivals in Burnie.

Three in four Australian passenger expect to return to Tasmania for a holiday although the number drops to one in four for international passengers.

Passengers spent an average of $172 in Hobart, $138 in Burnie and $106 in Port Arthur.

The most popular type of activities for visitors were sight-seeing on foot (63%), visiting a historic site or attraction (42%), dinning at a local cafe or restaurant (37%) and shopping (30%).

Half of all passengers said they had or expect to share their onshore experience in Tasmania via social media.

Data from the Tasmanian Cruise Ship Passenger Survey was compiled from more than 1000 interviews.