From July 2008 until the end of 2010, CNN viewers worldwide will be encouraged to upload compelling photographs, moving images and stories that encapsulate their experiences of South Africa, via the bespoke website www.mysouthafrica.tv. Participating viewers will stand a chance of winning a trip to South Africa.

The My South Africa brand campaign is a three-year partnership between CNN and South African Tourism (SA Tourism) and is CNN’s first ever user generated content driven advertising solution. The campaign aims to raise South Africa’s profile to CNN’s elite business and leisure audiences.

This deal builds on SA Tourism’s successful six-year advertising relationship with CNN International. The campaign will span the months of June and July 2010, when all eyes will be on South Africa as it hosts the FIFA World Cup.

Rani R. Raad, Senior Vice President, Ad Sales, CNN International commented, “This campaign taps into the trend of sharing experiences and sees the audience truly become part of the marketing mix, by creating the advertising themselves. It’s a breakthrough campaign where SA Tourism can draw on CNN’s expertise in creating completely flexible, bespoke brand concepts to reach the right audience for their business. We’re thrilled to have South Africa Tourism on board for this campaign.”

“In a globally competitive environment, we need to be cutting edge in our marketing,” says Roshene Singh, Chief Marketing Officer at SA Tourism. “It is our ambition to welcome 10 million visitors to South Africa in 2010, and we are well on track to reach this target, having received a record 9.09 million visitors in 2007.

“Our decision to embark on this campaign with CNN is informed by our determination both to differentiate South Africa from competitor destinations and to entrench our excellent arrivals growth. The campaign is a component of a broader global drive that is engineered for quantum growth in awareness about South Africa. We are very, very serious about global competitiveness and about South Africa becoming one of the world’s most preferred leisure destinations.”

CNN Ad Sales’ dedicated in-house creative production unit, Turner Commercial Productions (TCP) will produce a series of ‘call-to-action’ television spots, the first featuring South Africa Ambassador and acclaimed music artist Yvonne Chaka Chaka, to drive viewers to the website. A series of TCP-created scrapbook style advertorial vignettes showcasing the best submissions will air to 220 million homes and hotel rooms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The advertorial vignettes will be SA Tourism branded and will reach audiences globally via the www.mysouthafrica.tv.

As well as the competition mechanism, the online destination will host a picture gallery where visitors can rate each other’s entries and sign up for a monthly newsletter and quarterly virtual magazine. A SA Tourism banner campaign will run across the website. Print advertising will comprise a run of ad placements in CNN Traveller magazine, connecting with discerning travellers across the globe.

The My South Africa’ brand campaign will also be promoted via a viral push to blog sites and chat rooms as well as social networking sites Facebook and Flickr.

SA Tourism is part of CNN’s extensive roster of travel and tourism clients. As part of it’s commitment to providing the most sophisticated expertise to the industry, last year CNN International Ad Sales launched the Tourism Advertising Solutions & Knowledge (TASK) Group to provide consultative services on the development of strategic tourism advertising campaigns