The funding, announced by Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres, will be used to develop new marketing campaigns, or expand existing ones, to attract visitors to the region.

"This is great news for tourism operators who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the floods and storms," the Brigadier said.

"Extra funding to kickstart the economy after an event like this is important to help them through the recovery."

Hunter Tourism said the storm led people to cancel holidays which caused employee shifts to be cut.

The after-effects of the storm were still being felt, they said.

Research showed it would be eight weeks, on average, before people start believing the time was right to return to the region for tourism purposes.

And it was expected to take 17 weeks for the industry to return to a level of normality.

"The message we want to send is the Hunter is open for business and the best way to help residents is to get in your car or jump on a plane and visit the region," Brigadier Naumann said.

Ironically, the recovery effort had also generated millions for tourism and hospitality operators.

"Since the storms hit in April, hundreds of workers from emergency services, AusGrid, state and federal government agencies, tree loppers, insurance companies, welfare groups and industry representatives have been staying along the Hunter and Central Coast to help with the recovery," he said.