Some Canberra cafes and restaurants are reaping the rewards of trading during the traditionally quiet period between Christmas and New Year's Day.
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For more than a decade Urban Pantry has made a point of staying open during the festive season in support of its local customers.
The Manuka cafe closes only Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Manager Hannah Ingle said the past week had been "hectic".
"I think we choose to stay open because we do have quite a strong customer base in Manuka and a lot of people choose to stay here at Christmas," she said.
"Some of our regulars have been coming in for a long time. It's sort of a nice thing for us even though we are at work."
The cafe had also enjoyed patronage from interstate and international visitors, Ms Ingle said, with guests from as far afield as Brazil stopping in.
"People know during Christmas and New Year we are open all the time, so it's consistency for them as well. They know they can come in for a good breakfast, good lunch and nice cup of coffee," Ms Ingle said.
Barton bar and restaurant Ostani has been busy with diners primarily staying in its associated hotels.
Worker Steve Heitmann said Versailles: Treasures from the Palace at the National Gallery and the National Museum's A History of the World in 100 Objects had drawn a number of guests from Sydney and Melbourne.
"There's lots of bums in beds, which is good," he said.
"I reckon it'd have to be nearly on par [with previous years]."
Gungahlin fried chicken and whisky bar Young and Frisky launched in May this year and chose to stay open during the Christmas break to gauge future success.
"We didn't want to close New Year in case we were busy New Year," supervisor Kahlan Cliffe said.
"It was a slow start but it has gotten better."
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry said businesses looked at their customer base when determining their opening hours.
"If your customer base is generally on holiday, therefore there's no demand, it makes sense to close or have that break," she said.
"Mainly ones that stay open are highly visible, you don't have to really look to know they're there, and they get a lot of foot traffic from visitors."
Some businesses were turned off opening due to penalty rates paid on public holidays, Ms Hendry said.
"Those that stay open have weighed it up and decided it's in their commercial interests to stay open," she said.
