Every adult in NSW will get a $50 voucher to spend on a hotel in the state, as the premier promises "a very bright summer after a very dark winter".
The $250 million voucher scheme - called Stay and Rediscover - builds on the success of the state's Dine and Discover program and is part of a broader package designed to give the state's tourism industry a boost after months of lockdown.
"With international borders closed, it has been incredibly challenging for accommodation, for tourism operators," Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters on Wednesday.
"What we are doing is getting in front ... we know that the borders will be open and we want to be ahead of the curve."
Airlines are also set to benefit from the $530 million tourism and events support package, which includes a $60 million aviation attraction fund.
All up, international airlines will have access to a pool of $120 million after Sydney Airport announced it would dollar-match the government's funding.
The state's tourism minister, Stuart Ayres, said Australia's closed borders had prompted airlines to make commercial decisions to avoid Sydney.
He wants to lure them back by offsetting the costs of putting Sydney back on the map.
"We want those airlines that used to fly to Sydney regularly coming back home again," he said.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said 18 international airlines had stopped flying to Sydney.
"The NSW government's aviation attraction fund will make sure Sydney is being talked about in airline boardrooms from Doha to Dallas," he said in a statement.
Mr Perrottet last week announced that NSW would soon walk away from hotel quarantine and home-bound isolation for international arrivals.
But just hours later, Prime Minister Scott Morrison poured cold water on the idea that NSW would be welcoming back international tourists, saying the federal government wouldn't issue those visas in the immediate future.
Mr Perrottet said he hoped tourism would return this year, denying he'd gotten ahead of himself.
"NSW is open for business, open for tourism and the faster we work, the faster we move the better the opportunities," he said.
The tourism and events package also includes $150 million to restart major events across the state, a $25 million support fund for music festivals, $50 million to revitalise the Sydney CBD, and funding for business events, cancelled events, and recovery marketing.
The state will also soon see the resumption of non-urgent elective surgery, as COVID-19 case numbers continue their steady decline.
Some 283 new locally acquired cases and seven deaths were announced on Wednesday.
Three were in their 90s and died at aged care facilities in Albury and north of Wollongong, where they were infected.
One inner Sydney man in his 50s died at home and was only diagnosed after death.
The Hunter New England Local Health District continues to report a surge, with 62 of the new cases diagnosed there.
There are 552 people in NSW hospitals with COVID, 124 of them in ICU.
Non-urgent elective surgery will resume in Greater Sydney next week after a two-month hiatus during the height of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the state.
Surgeries will be capped at 75 per cent capacity at public and private facilities within Greater Sydney, including the Nepean Blue Mountains region from Monday.
Day surgery returned on October 5 across both public and private systems.
Non-urgent elective surgery was not generally suspended outside Greater Sydney.
