Cellar door manager Daniel Mortimer and Orange 360 manager Caddie Marshall say domestic travellers remain vital to Orange as international borders open up

Regional areas across the state benefited from the overseas travel ban, and Orange cellar doors enjoyed record days after the first lockdowns lifted in 2020 and people from Sydney and Canberra escaped from the capital cities for domestic holidays.

Cellar doors saw another spike late last year when Sydney emerged from its second major lockdown, before Omicron slowed things down again over Christmas and January.

"When Sydneysiders couldn't go overseas, we were seeing a lot of foot traffic," Mortimer Wines cellar door manager Daniel Mortimer said.

Head of Orange tourism body Orange 360 Caddie Marshall says that while the opening of the borders will give access to international workers to pick fruit, harvest crops and take up hospitality positions to support the local agricultural industry, "the gate swings both ways" when it comes to international borders.

"While international borders have been closed we have benefited from increased numbers of high value travellers discovering their own backyard, now we will compete with the rest of the world again so we will continue to remind and invite the domestic market to experience all the attractions in our region," she said.

Cellar door operators say they're starting to bounce out of the slowdown they saw during Omicron and are now looking forward to the traditionally busy Autumn period and F.O.O.D Week.

A spokesperson for Printhie Wines, which is about to open a brand new cellar door and restaurant, says trade has increased in the past two weeks: "The latest outbreak is plateauing and cancellations due to COVID are reducing.

"It's great to see that there is still demand to visit the Orange region especially coming into Autumn when we see larger numbers head this way."

Orange 360 says tickets sales for F.O.O.D Week have been strong. The popular Forage event sold out within half an hour last month and two of the new Producer and The Chef style events have now also sold out.

Mr Mortimer said he's feeling optimistic.

"We're definitely seeing a fair few more bookings coming into March and April which is when Orange really starts to shine," he said.

"I don't know if we'll get to those crazy in-between lockdown levels.

"But hopefully during that time Orange got a chance to put on a bit of a show for those people and hopefully they enjoyed themselves enough to come back."

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