by InTrieste
The Italian foreign affairs ministry has teamed up with the children’s animated series Winx Club to promote Italy around the world as a tourist destination.
The internationally-known cartoon series, created by Italian animator Iginio Straffi, is set in a magical universe inhabited by the Winx, a group of girls who turn into fairies to fight villains.
The foreign ministry has collaborated with the show’s production company Rainbow to create a special Winx Club mini-series called The Magic of Italy.
The fairies star in the eight-part series which will be shared abroad through Italy’s international network of embassies, consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes.
Designed to showcase some of Italy’s less-known tourist destinations to a foreign audience, the series comes in nine languages: Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin and Japanese.
The foreign ministry says the fairies will discover “real rare gems where beauty, history and culture meet” in a format particularly appealing to a younger audience.
Italy’s collaboration with Winx comes a few months after the tourism ministry launched Open to Meraviglia, a heavily-criticised campaign starring Botticelli’s Venus as a “virtual influencer”.
