Winx Club helps to promote The Magic of Italy.

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.

The destinations featured in the promotional clip include Bomarzo park of monsters in Lazio, the Temple of Valadier inside a cave in Le Marche, and the ancient city of Matera in Basilicata.

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".