Hotels had always enthusiastically backed the festival, often providing sponsorship, which this year included 300 bed nights for performers, organisers and media, New Zealand Hotel Council chairwoman Victoria Shaw, of Queenstown, said.
"There were a lot of rooms still available, but going forward we see huge potential with American Express, particularly with their travel offices in Australia."
While the festival coincided with the Australian school holidays, attracting plenty of families, many of them had no idea they were arriving in the middle of 10 days of festivities, which showed the potential for more marketing of the event in Australia, she added.
Brand sponsor American Express said its involvement with this year's Winter Festival was so successful, it is already making plans for next year and are "definitely committed" for several years.
"It was great. Every time the event went out on the TV or media, it was the American Express Winter Festival," head of American Express New Zealand (sponsorship) Ray Smith said.
"It lifted the profile for us hugely. We're already planning to market it in Australia strongly next year and plan to get it under way in October."
Mr Smith said the fine weather for this year's event, combined with the snowfalls at the start and end of the festival, were an added bonus, along with the newly added festival pavilion, the Kawarau Falls Station and the Air New Zealand themed flight put on from Sydney especially for the festival.
Queenstown retailers had also got behind the American Express sponsorship, providing spot prizes for 10,000 scratch-and-win tickets for customers who used their cards in stores.
Restaurants and cafes also reported plenty of business during the festival.
Wai Waterfront restaurant assistant manager Sarah Fletcher said the opening fireworks night proved to be especially busy and several tables of diners during the festival were repeat customers who had returned each year from out of town especially for the event.
Others, such as The Cow Restaurant, Motogrill cafe and fast food outlet Fergburger all reported a huge boost in business during Winter Festival.
Motogrill's co-owners, Ems and Bex Gibbons, said it was like feeding a rugby team non-stop for the duration of the festival.
But Destination Queenstown chief executive David Kennedy pointed out there were also paybacks from the festival that were not so apparent.
While many businesses reported good takings during the event, the objectives of it were wider than just the 10 days of the festival.
"The idea of the festival is twofold: firstly to announce to the world that Queenstown is open for the winter and [secondly] to bring economic benefit to the town."
He said it was timed prior to the New Zealand school holidays deliberately, to get the word out as a "step up" to the snow season.
Rather than just the profile of the event, the marketing was aimed at showcasing Queenstown to the world, he added.
"That's one reason why Destination Queenstown backs it."
He said DQ invested $40,000 in this year's festival.
Festival director Sally Feinerman said she did not disclose sponsorship details but praised American Express as a successful partner in this year's event.
Other successful initiatives this year included the Kawarau Falls Station, which provided a hub for the festival and allowed the inclusion of several new items in the festival programme, such as the Sunday brunch and cabaret-style shows.
"Obviously we've got to keep it fresh every year, while still keeping a lot of the old favourite events in the programme."
She said it was too early to say how well ticket sales and attendances had been at events, "but from early bookings we did have a lot of people from Auckland, plus a lot from Southland and Dunedin".
She said there was a growing appreciation that people didn't have to be skiers to enjoy the festival.
"The message is getting out that it has a wide appeal. There are so many other things you can do."
