Wednesday was a busy day for the Maritime tourism industry as 10 major cruise ships arrived, resulting in an estimated 30,000 tourists staying in the region

Two ships docked in Sydney while two more docked in Charlottetown. Halifax and Saint John each welcomed three ships to their cities.

Fall is the busiest time for cruise ships visiting Maritme ports and that means an extended tourism season for local businesses.

"The most popular, though, is St. Martins,” said tour organizer Heather MacKenzie. “We have a lot of people interested to learn more about the Bay of Fundy.  That, walking tours and Hopewell Rocks are our three big sellers."

For St. Martins By the Sea, with a population of 314, Wednesday was a record-setting day with visitors outnumbering villagers five to one.

In total, the village of St. Martins welcomed a record 34 large tour busses, each carrying about 50 passengers.

Local residents say they have an obligation to show some maritime hospitality.

"Lot of them have some questions and we try to answer them the best we can, especially when it comes to the fisheries," said fisherman Norman Ferris.

Restaurants and businesses have rarely been busier.

“For retailers, they put themselves in the black during Christmas. Well, this is our Christmas season,” said merchant Jim Walsh.

Tour guide Roy Flowers is offering visitors a bit of local flavour with his homemade moose caller.

"Lot of nice people. Meet a lot of wonderful people from all different places. The people I got today are from St. Louis – wonderful people."

The ships rarely make just one stop in the region, which means cruise ships visiting Saint John one day may be in Charlottetown the next.

As a result, passengers could be seen all over the region as large cruise ships pulled into every major port.

Halifax was also noticeably busier, with thousands of passengers from three cruise ships.

The Halifax Port Authority estimates each passenger spends between $70 and $100 during a one-day stay, meaning at least $2.1 million on Wednesday alone.

Officials with the port authority say its passengers are driving the cruise industry.

More ships are expected to arrive on Thursday.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron and Kelland Sundahl.