Newcastle hoteliers say reopening venues for fully vaccinated staff and customers could cause "tension at the door".
The Australian Hotels Association is negotiating with the NSW government about whether pubs and clubs can reopen during lockdowns using a vaccine passport system.
The AHA is pushing for a mid-September reopening. The Hunter could emerge from lockdown before then if COVID-19 case numbers fall, but that is not guaranteed.
Newcastle pub owners told the Newcastle Herald on Friday that they were fearful of conflict with customers if they had to turn away people who could not prove they had been vaccinated.
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They also questioned whether opening for the small proportion of the Hunter population who had received two shots would be commercially viable.
One publican said mask and social-distancing rules had discouraged many people from venturing out before the lockdown started.
He said reopening with vaccine passports could be viable if customers did not have to wear masks and venues did not have to follow the four-square-metre rule.
Another licensee said venues had faced a changing series of health orders over the past 15 months and a vaccine passport system could become "another thing we can get in trouble for".
Many hotel staff are now receiving $750-a-week disaster relief payments, raising questions about whether they would return to work during the lockdown.
The industry's mostly young-adult workforce is also not yet eligible for the Pfizer vaccine and may be reluctant to receive AstraZeneca.
AHA NSW director John Green said the hotel industry had 50,000 staff stood down and 1000 venues closed.
"What we're looking for is a way we can open our venues sooner in a safe manner," he said.
"We're not talking about mandatory. It's an interim measure. The staff would be voluntary.
"If patrons want to come into our venues and have a beer and a meal, they should be able to if they've been double vaccinated."
Mr Green said health advice would govern whether people had to wait three weeks after their second dose, which is when the vaccines become most effective, to qualify for a passport.
