The 31-year-old Korean and 23-year-old Spaniard were flown to hospital in the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter after the incident at 12.10pm.
Both were English language students living in Queenstown, Constable Logan Dickie, of Balclutha, said.
They were occupants of a rental Nissan Sunny being driven by a 28-year-old Brazilian, who attempted to overtake a vehicle while travelling south and struck a Ford Mondeo, which was turning right into the Tautuku Outdoor Education Centre.
The two occupants of the Mondeo, a 19-year-old man and 19-year-old woman, were not injured.
The Brazilian driver, who was also an English language student living in Queenstown, was ''relatively uninjured'' Const Dickie said.
Charges in relation to the crash were pending, he said.
Balclutha police and St John staff attended, as well as fire crews from Papatowai and Owaka.
It was the only major road incident reported in Otago during the Easter break, despite large volumes of traffic throughout the region.
Officers in Central Otago noticed many people travelling north towards Christchurch, as well as south towards Dunedin yesterday, when the holiday ended for most.
Hundreds of people spent Easter in the district. Many attended the opening of a motorsport park in Cromwell and a jetsprint event near Wanaka.
Sergeant Derek Ealson, of Alexandra, said motorists were well behaved in general.
The holiday period officially ended at 6am today.rosie.manins@odt.co.nz
