Most pubs and some cafes, restaurants and wineries stayed open but many others closed for a few days or the full Christmas to New Year period.

Byng Street Boutique Hotel owner Tom Nock said many of his guests usually book two or three months in advance and pre-plan their trip.

However, he said more of the current guests have made a later decision to visit and have been faced with the restaurants and wineries they wanted to visit being closed, so he has been working with them to select others that stayed open.

"We're sitting on about 90 per cent [occupancy] right through until about [January 7] and then it starts to get a bit up and down after that," Mr Nock said.

He said most of his visitors come from Sydney and there are a few others also from within NSW.

"Nearer to Christmas it was a little bit different because we had lots of families here," Mr Nock said.

"People are struggling at times to find somewhere to eat and that sort of thing and we are working with them," Mr Nock said.

"The rest of the year looks positive as long as we don't have to lock down or anything like that 2022 will be a good year."

Penalty rates are one of the reasons some businesses have previously cited as a reason to not open on public holidays and Business Orange president Jack Evans said whether to open or not came down to a personal decision among business owners.

"You can look at the number of tourists and think it would be good to have businesses open," Mr Evans said.

However, he said people should also factor in how much it would cost a business to open. He said some would make a loss, while others could decide to take advantage of other businesses being closed for a few days.

"At the end of the day it's a business decision, 'can I afford to be open, can I afford to pay the penalty rates?'," Mr Evans said.

Overall Mr Evans said from what he's seen Christmas trade has been good and he's hopeful it will continue.

De Salis Wines was among the hospitality businesses that continued to operate between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Winery co-owner Loretta Svenson said the business only closes three days a year although she has limited the number of bookings so staff can take holidays.

"It's important to be open," Mrs Svenson said.

"This particular one is not as busy as it can be at this time of year but it's obviously worth being open."

Although penalty rates do drive up costs, Mrs Svenson said her approach is to spread out the costs over a longer term rather than worrying about one day or a week.

"This is the cost of doing business," she said.

"If you are open on these days you are doing a service to your community."

"People go, 'they are always open, let's just go there'."

However, Mrs Svenson said it also depends on the business and it made sense for some not to open if they were not going to get any trade.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: