Rotorua retailers say opening on Easter Sunday has been overwhelmingly worthwhile.
This was the second year retailers were allowed to open on the day, following the passing of a bylaw in 2016.
The manager of women's fashion store Envy, Jacqui Walbrick, said this was the first year it had been open on Easter Sunday and it had been "crazy busy".
She said the owners decided to open the store to make the most of the busy weekend.
Graham Brownrigg, the i-site executive manager, said accommodation had been hard to find at the weekend and it had been busier this year than last.
"We're up from last year and certainly accommodation was hard to come by," Brownrigg said.
"I was driving out of town towards Tauranga on Saturday morning and the queue of cars coming into Rotorua was back up to the airport."
He said the city had a lot of day visitors and domestic visitors and he'd also seen lots of cars with boats or mountain bikes on them.
A staff member at the Great New Zealand Shop on Pukuatua St said business had been steady on Easter Sunday but overall it was slightly slower than this time last year.
"It was busier than I thought it was going to be," she said.
"But this time last year we had the Lions tour which made a huge difference."
A bill to allow councils to decide if retailers can open on Easter Sunday was passed in August 2016 and some Rotorua shops were open for business for the first time last Easter.
Rotorua Lakes Council's Easter Sunday Trading Policy: - Adopted February 27, 2017 - Made under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 which was amended in 2016 to allow territorial authorities to have a policy to permit shops to open on Easter Sundays - Aims to meet demand for goods and services from visitors and residents in Rotorua during the Easter holiday weekend - The policy must be reviewed no later than five years after it was adopted.