With snow forecast for Sunday and Monday local businesses were overwhelmed by the influx of tourists to Tenterfield.

Thousands piled up to Mt Mackenzie over the two days to revel in the snow but it was motel owners who were left grinning ear to ear.

“On Saturday we could have had another 10 rooms,” Peter Zannes from the Golfers Inn Motel said.

“Everywhere was booked out – I did a ring around and they were all full from Warwick to Armidale

“It was a bit disappointing on Saturday to see businesses in town all sold out of food and closing shops – wasn’t a pie left in town,” he said.

The Peter Allen Motor Inn was packed to the rafters for two nights.

“We quietened down last night though,” owner, James Bradshaw said.

“If they didn’t find anything here they were moving down to Glen Innes to try – people were going from one place to another.”

Glen Innes’s Rest Point Motor Inn Owner John McCluskey said he had turned away about 60 inquiries on Saturday night alone.

“Snow’s great for business,” he said.

“As a result of the inclement conditions, we’ve got about 15 in and had a full house (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). We turned away about 60 different inquiries on Saturday and about 20-30 on Sunday.”

Tenterfield Tourism Officer Caitlin Reid said they’d had over 500 people through the Visitors Information Centre between Saturday and Monday.

“Best Western said they could have filled the place three times over.

“We had 220 through the doors yesterday, pretty much for directions to Mt Mackenzie and heaps and heaps of phone calls.”

Ms Reid said the incursion of tourists was a “massive” bonus for the town’s economy.

“I’m hearing people are already making bookings for this weekend hoping for more snow – if only we could guarantee this every year,” she said.