Among those who have made their way to the waterfront in the resort today are Irish tourists Catie McLoughlin and Caoimhe Regan, who arrived in Queenstown yesterday.
Ms McLoughlin said the pair both live in Australia, but decided to spend Christmas and New Year on a road trip around the South Island, beginning with the Wakatipu.
"We love it, it's so good.
"As soon as we landed we were like 'the scenery is amazing' and everyone is lovely.''
When asked why the chose to spend their Christmas afternoon on the waterfront, she said those restaurants open today are serving "posh Christmas dinners".
"And we just wanted to have a few beers.''
While a 24 hour liquor ban comes in to force across parts of the Queenstown Lakes district from Friday, drinking is permitted until 8pm today and tomorrow - anyone caught drinking after that, or while the complete ban is in force, could be issued with a $250 infringement notice.
