• by Erik Sass , March 5, 2008

American Express Publishing, Time Inc. and CNN are teaming up to create multiplatform city guides for Amex's Travel + Leisure brand. The guides will offer branded content from all three companies covering lodging, recreation and nightlife in 15 American cities, including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The program is sponsored by Infiniti.

In print, Amex Publishing will distribute three 12-page pullout booklets, covering nine of the biggest cities in Travel + Leisure, as well as Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure Golf in March, May and July.

Time Inc. will distribute the booklets via InStyle, Real Simple, oney, Fortune, Time Style + Design and Coastal Living. Those cities not covered in the print booklets--Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis--will be covered online at Travelandleisure.com.

On the broadcast side, on Feb. 19, CNN Airport Network began broadcasting travel segments featuring Travel + Leisure editors giving tips for visiting various cities. A 60-second feature, "T+L Travel Tips," is also set to air on CNN Headline News on weekends. CNN will draw on some of the content for its weekly "On the Go" segments.

The multi-component program is being promoted through print and online advertising on Time Inc. and Amex Publishing Web sites--as well as a City Guides Escapes Contest, also sponsored by Infiniti, that offers the chance to win one of five trips to a destination city. The promotion runs through August 30th.