It had been a rough couple of months for the city's tourism industry, which includes Orange's cool climate wineries, whose trade relies heavily on Sydney visitors.

Since the local LGA's lockdown was lifted on September 24, Orange's major cellar door, Philip Shaw, hadn't been alone in seeing visitor numbers that were a shadow of their former selves.

Assistant manager Melanie Allard described visitation as "super dead". In a normal Saturday, Philip Shaw will have between 200 and 250 bookings for wine tasting. During Greater Sydney's lockdown, there had only been around dozen on Saturdays, she said.

On Monday though, the day all of regional NSW reopened to fully vaccinated residents from Greater Sydney, Philip Shaw already had nearly 200 bookings for the coming Saturday.

"Even during the week there seems to be quite a few bookings which we haven't had in a while... and then on the weekend, we're getting to full capacity," the cellar door's assistant manger said.

Swinging Bridge Wines were similarly looking forward to a busy weekend after months of quiet ones. Event coordinator Jay Byrnes said that the Live in the Vines music event planned for this coming Saturday will double as a "reopening to NSW party".

"We've got these amazing artists coming up from Sydney. Nic Jeffries was on The Voice a couple of years ago, and he's really successful," Mr Byrnes said.

"So we're really excited to invite him out and hoping we can get a big crowd for him."

Fellow wineries Printhie and Rowlee similarly reported an uptick in bookings - the vast majority coming from Sydney.

Printhie Wines co-owner Emily Swift explained that with Orange's tourism trade relying so heavily on Sydney visitors, the sector had been hit hard during the lockdown.

"It's definitely been a tough year. We thought 2020 was hard but 2021 has proven to be just as difficult so it's very heartening to see that bookings are picking up again and hopefully we'll get back to some form of normalcy in the next few weeks," she said.

"I think we'll be busier [in the coming weeks] than a normal year... due to the COVID shutdowns. People are desperate to get out of Sydney, so Orange is the perfect destination for them to visit."

Rowlee Wines owner Nicole Samodol added that the incoming influx of travellers was a positive sign of things to come.

"We're looking forward to seeing visitors back again and, I think, as a region, we've got all the right protocols and safety measures in place to keep staff and the community safe," she said.

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: