More than 15 Whanganui businesses have joined to make the excursion possible, including Papaiti Gin, Havoc Coffee, Bullet Cup, Kaputī, NZ Glassworks and artist studios such as the Vostinar Gallery.
Air Chathams is sponsoring the event and is chartering the flights to and from Auckland.
The visitors include interior designers, architects, landscape planners, engineers and media representatives.
“It’s a real cross-section of the industry,” Horrocks said.
“We’re so excited to be able to show the city to them all.”
They will view public design at the Durie Hill Elevator, co-design at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery and design in practice at the Playground Centre and GDM.
The visit will end with a function at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre, an internationally recognised modernist building.
Horrocks said the day would be just a taste of what Whanganui had to offer.
“If we showcased everything we wanted to show them, they’d have to be here for a week.”
The diverse array of people and places taking part on Saturday showed how deeply ingrained design was in Whanganui, she said.
“The day that we’ve put together really gives a glimpse of the breadth of design and the diversity of design in the city.”
Unesco City of Design manager and Whanganui & Partners creative industries strategic lead Dr Emma Bugden said they were always looking for opportunities for partnerships to showcase the diversity of design in Whanganui.
It was specifically developed to foster ongoing business opportunities at the city level as well as business-to-business level, she said.
Horrocks said it was important to make the event about creating business opportunities “and enabling collaboration and attracting investment into the city”, she said.
The design sector in New Zealand is worth $17.5 billion.
Bugden said the visitors would be in Whanganui for one day.
“But we see that day as the beginning of developing networks that will lead to ongoing partnerships and collaborations.”
Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
