About 170 cast and crew have been involved in the four-day shoot at the Heritage Queenstown and between eight and 12 truckloads of snow have been used to transform the hotel's exterior, the courtyard and swimming pool into "a winter wonderland", an industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
Queenstown-based production company Batch Film Ltd is co-ordinating the commercial, which will be broadcast around the world next year.
The advertisement is being shot by an undisclosed Academy Award-winning director of photography and an unidentified New Zealand director.
About 70 of the 100 cast members are believed to reside in the Wakatipu and casting calls were also held in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne.
The source said celebrities were not involved - "the star is the product".
The storyline was being kept confidential, but nine technicians shovelled snow on to white paper around two pergolas before the shoot began on Wednesday.
A sign saying "Olympic Village, Whistler, BC" was mounted above prop pergolas, and extra trees and film lights were brought in.
The soft-drink giant is a sponsor of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Whistler and Vancouver are venues for the games, which will be held in February.
"Scouting was done a month and a-half ago and it became clear Queenstown was the ideal location with the mountains," the source said.
The source said the cast and crew were staying at the Heritage and Sofitel and they were spending money on car rentals, equipment hire, food and entertainment.
"[The shoot is] a great economy boost in a time of recession and it's great for the town."
Film Otago Southland executive manager Kevin Jennings, of Queenstown, said the Coca-Cola International shoot was "a great indication our industry is remaining strong and quite able to attract big-budget, high-profile jobs such as this.
"Coke would be recognised as one of the best marketing companies in the world, and choosing to film in Queenstown reinforces our position on the world stage."
