The majority of visitors to the holiday hot spots are expected to be from Sydney and within the region.

People appear to have jumped at the chance for a trip away after the NSW travel ban ceased on Monday.

Industry leaders told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday accommodation providers had reported solid occupancy rates across the weekend and were receiving plenty of last-minute bookings.

Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association CEO Amy Cooper said there was "lots of rising optimism" among business operators.

"Occupancy rates are looking pretty good. It's really positive given this is our first weekend that we're open for regional travel," she said.

"We've heard from some accommodation providers that they're actually booked out, which is hugely positive.

"People seem to be looking for accommodation that can be self-contained, which is really interesting [coming] out of COVID, so quite a number of holiday houses et cetera are fully booked.

"A lot of bookings into our hotel accommodation, but I think the good thing about that is the Hunter Valley [hotel accommodation] is often spaced out and people are distanced. You're not facing the same hotel corridors that you do in the city.

"Bookings for restaurants and cellar doors are filling up, but they are limited in the numbers they can have, and some of our tour operators are back on the road, which is good, but they do have to comply with social distancing."

In a sign of the demand, Ms Cooper said after Cypress Lakes Resort all but booked out this week, Elysia Wellness Retreat was advertised to open and 50 rooms sold out in less than 12 hours.

Elsewhere, Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie councils' holiday parks are all close to full.

Destination Port Stephens CEO Eileen Gilliland said bookings in the area had been strong but most accommodation providers still had space available.

However, she said bookings were being made "with very short lead time" and it was difficult to forecast how good the weekend would actually be.

Hunter tourism advocate and Alloggio managing director Will Creedon said "tens of thousands" of people would visit the region this week and inject "tens of millions" into the economy.

Mr Creedon said it would be a "strong sugar hit" but warned there was a "cold hard reality" of slim bookings over the next few months and a grim long-term outlook.

"Right across the country we're seeing leisure destinations within 60 to 120 minutes of major urban centres doing very, very well, and that includes the Hunter Valley, Port Stephens and Newcastle," the former Tourism Hunter chairman said.

"It's a great sugar hit for June, this weekend, and it's very good for those businesses associated with leisure.

"But come next week, the corporates and the other segments won't have returned and they don't look like [they will] until the end of the year or the first half of next year."

Mr Creedon said the region's average occupancy rate "across all sectors of accommodation" would be between 50 and 80 per cent.

"We're still getting last-minute bookings," he said.

"But it's very important, talking to my colleagues in the industry, to know we're focused on ensuring our rooms and houses are cleaned and looked after.

"We're very conscious of the cleanliness; accommodation and pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes. You can see it, they're all being ultra careful.

"We've set a fantastic standard across the region in how we're setting up our health standards and doing our very best to meet standards put in place by governments."

While it is expected to be a long way back for the tourism industry with travel from most states restricted and any international visitors at least months away, some operators believe Hunter residents can play a role in firing things up by luring family and friends to the region.

Dominc May, owner of Newcastle whale-watching and adventure boat CoastXP, will resume tours on Friday after a 10-week hiatus. He said it was "nice to see" a few new names among the bookings this weekend, but most were "return customers".

While hopeful of attracting business from visiting holiday makers, he said he was counting on locals to help build his business back up.

"My business is about 60 per cent locals and 40 per cent visitors," he said.

"Of those visitors the majority are domestic, so they've come from either intra or interstate.

"But the vast majority of customers I get are friends or family visiting a local, and the local makes the booking because they want to show off the area they live in.

"I'm hoping because of the break people are more interested in seeing family and friends and are willing to travel and therefore eager to participate in activities."

Mr May has made significant changes to his operation, like halving capacity from 20 to 10 passengers, to get back on the water.

"It's not an easy round figure to say how many I can take," he said. "It depends on the size of the booking. If I get a booking of five [from the same household], then they can sit together and I have to space out the rest.

"Tour operators in NSW are exempt from the four-square metre rule ... but 1.5 metre distancing still applies wherever possible."

CoastXP customers will have to complete a COVID-19 questionnaire before tours and bring their own spray jackets, which are no longer being provided as a precaution.

Mr May, who had operated for 18 months before the pandemic hit, said while the tours were "a little different" the reduced capacity made them "exclusive".

"People will have more space to themselves, more space to take photos ... so there's good and bad parts about the new way of operating," he said.

"With the safety measures in, there should be nothing inhibiting people enjoying local activities."

Balloon Aloft will begin flying in the Hunter Valley's wine country on Saturday.

Director Matthew Scaife said it had been a long 11 weeks waiting to resume. The business has had to make similar changes in line with COVID-19 protocols but he is optimistic of recovering.

"We were picking up about five per cent work, so we had to close," he said of ceasing flights in March. "Slowly but surely once we said we were going to start back up again, people started booking.

"We would usually fly 20 to 24 people in a balloon but we can't put more than eight or 10 in with the distancing."

Mr Scaife said Balloon Aloft would usually fly 100 people per day across a June long weekend and in the weeks to come bookings were "70 per cent" down compared to last year.

"I don't think there's going to be much money made," he said.

"Maybe the accommodation will still be OK, but the tour companies I think they just want to show they're getting going.

"We need to get rid of that 1.5 metre [rule] to start making it viable."

Chris Kepreotes, owner and driver of Newcastle's Famous Tram, got behind the wheel earlier this week after a near three-month break. When the Herald spoke to him mid-week, he was yet to run any of his daily city tours but was arriving each day "hopeful" people would be waiting to board.

He said he was "desperate for customers" as about 80 per cent of his revenue was usually derived from tourists, the rest from private bookings for "weddings and wine tours".

"I need tourists," he said. "I'm down to zero revenue.

"It's usually pretty consistent all year round. It's a little bit better in the summer months.

"The same time last year I'd be doing two tours a day, on weekdays. I wouldn't be full ... but if I get eight to 10 on each tour, it's excellent for me."

Mr Kepreotes said "local tourists" would be essential to keeping his business going.

"I've got a few weddings coming back but they're running basically into next year," he said.

"The bus trips are gone. I've probably lost 10 [private] bus trips, five or six weddings and there's no cruise ships - they probably won't be back until next year.

"I'm getting JobKeeper [but] the business is at risk. The next couple of months are going to be pretty tough. We need more people in town."

Despite the region recording no new cases of COVID-19 for more than a month, Hunter New England Health issued a warning yesterday for tourists and residents to be vigilant this weekend.

"We can't be in too much of a rush to return to pre-COVID life. We're not there yet," Dr David Durrheim said.

"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy our long weekend travels, but with the number of people expected to take advantage of the relaxed travel restrictions, especially those from outside of our region, it could be more difficult to remember these good habits.

"The reality is that there is no vaccine available for COVID-19 yet so we still have to embrace our new normal of standing back, washing our hands very regularly, covering coughs and sneezes, and getting tested if symptomatic."

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