A NORTH Devon seaside town hopes to spark a renaissance, with a marketing campaign launched to coincide with a new ferry service.

Businesses and local authorities in Ilfracombe aim to attract a wave of day trippers from 2010 onwards, as the Severn Link begins operating between its harbour and Swansea in the spring.

North Devon Council has funded the image revamp, which has cost between £30,000 and £40,000, according to the town's mayor, Philip Webb.

Tonight, Ilfracombe will launch a campaign urging visitors to take a fresh look at the "Curious Coastal Charm" of a town which has suffered some of the region's highest levels of unemployment since its tourism began to decline in the 1960s.

The town's Regeneration Group commissioned Barnstaple-based agency Fresh Bread Marketing during the summer to create a series of logos, fonts and colour schemes which will feature on the promotional literature of local firms.

The re-brand has been money well spent, Councillor Webb said ahead of the "reveal" at the Landmark Theatre this evening.

"This is part of the regeneration activities planned for Ilfracombe, which include regenerating the seafront in a couple of phases," he said.

"We wanted a co-ordinated approach. There has been a need for us to attract new people into Ilfracombe and the marketing initiative sits really well with the introduction of the new ferry. Cardiff and Swansea alone have 600,000 people."

Fresh Bread founder Tessa Martin said: "The crucial part is to ensure that people won't come into Ilfracombe on the ferry and go off somewhere else."

Ilfracombe has also a secured a £1.5 million funding pledge from North Devon District Council to fund a two-phase plan to revamp its sea-front and realise other schemes that aim both to serve the community and attract inward investment.

Town councillor Ron Ley said: "North Devon District Council, working with different groups, has worked to transform the area. Branding is one way to show this off in the right light."

"We are 100 per cent behind this," said Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council.

"Ilfracombe is the gateway to a tremendous amount of marine activity worth millions, in the Bristol Channel.

"Now is exactly the right time to invest in the town and its future."