"This is the first step in building towards the summer season.
"We're using bright new colours and imagery and sending a very clear message to our closest target markets," she said.
"'Take A New Look' aims to get New Zealanders considering Wanganui as a great destination for a short break - particularly at this time of the year. With the arts, culture and heritage we have, there isn't a shortage of things for people to do."
Ms Cheyne said work was continuing, with other marketing activity taking place in time for the summer season.
This included new brochures with an overall visitor guide and supplementary arts, heritage, cycleways and pathways, and Whanganui River Rd guides.
A new street map would also be part of the project.
"New film footage is scheduled for the weekend to replace the existing videos at the i-SITE and these short videos will also be used at expos and trade shows," she said.
"A public-relations campaign begins at the end of the month covering a range of topics and all themed to promote a regional and 'new look' at Wanganui as a place to visit."
She said the promotion was already visible around the city with some new signs in place "and there will be more to come".
The Visit Whanganui website, specifically aimed at visitors, had been updated and an easy-to-use event calendar had been put in place.
She said more work would be ongoing with regional neighbours Destination Manawatu and Rangitikei around cycle touring, while Visit Whanganui had attended two national tourism shows.
Visit Whanganui chairman Eric Dorfman said the new campaign was an excellent opportunity to celebrate Wanganui's vibrancy and an opportunity to reconnect with friends and family about what Wanganui had to offer.
"A great way to support is by posting your event for free on WhanganuiNZ.com to give potential visitors more information about what's on," Dr Dorfman said.
Meanwhile the new promotion would be welcomed by the city's tourism providers, Destination Whanganui Providers chairman Dave Hill said. With the marketing campaigns about to be launched, operators were hopeful of a long-awaited turnaround in spring spring and summer.
As it was, April provided a much-needed shot in the arm for Wanganui's tourism industry.
With Easter falling in April this year, compared to March last year, the city experienced a big lift in domestic guest nights, which climbed up to 14,632 - a 13 per cent increase on the corresponding period last year.
Mr Hill said domestic guest nights were up 32 per cent, while international visitors continued the decline experienced this year, with guest nights falling 28.4 per cent to 2798.
He said the average length of stay in April was up slightly from 1.63 nights to 1.67 nights.
The occupancy rates for motels continue to be influenced by the number of motels closing or converting to long-term accommodation.
In April, those rates were also well up - from 33.1 per cent to 48.2 per cent.
Overall, Wanganui's place within the industry continued to be at the bottom end.
"Over the last 12 months, Wanganui continues near the bottom in overall performance, with 26 regional tourist areas showing visitor growth, four in decline and Wanganui fifth from the bottom with no growth at all," Mr Hill said.
That said, April's numbers painted a much healthier picture than March, when Government statistics showed a huge drop in tourist guest nights for the region compared to the same month in 2013.
And coming hard on the heels of the February result, it meant Wanganui was "once again the worst-performing regional tourist area in the country, with the biggest decline in guest nights".
Mr Hill said that while the industry was moving into a traditionally quiet season, any drop in tourist numbers would affect not only accommodation providers but also retail, restaurants and employment.
