RP now a preferred "Survivor" location

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippines is now starting to gain ground as a preferred location for reality TV show “Survivor” with more and more countries, especially in Europe, wanting to shoot its Asian tour episode in the country.

Department of Tourism (DOT) undersecretary for planning and promotions Eduardo Jarque Jr. recently announced that two more “Survivor” productions will be shot in the Philippines this year, following France, Sweden, and Israel, which featured “Caramoan” as its location in Camarines Sur.

Jarque said “Survivor Bulgaria” is currently shooting its own TV production on the island, to follow will be same TV productions for the countries of Turkey and Serbia.

Jarque said featuring the Philippines as these countries’ location for the widely viewed and globally popular reality-TV program has helped the promotion of the Philippines to other countries, as noted in the significant increase of French arrivals to the Philippines after the program was shown in France. The “Survivor: France” which was shot in the Philippines will be aired in France until September.

DOT, for its part, is giving assistance to the crew of each country in setting up at their specific location shoots, specially in Caramoan, which can only be accessed through a private air transportation. DOT is spending its own money for the logistical support, Jarque said.

What fuelled the interest of these countries to pick the Philippines, especially CamSur’s Caramoan Island, is the local government unit’s (LGUs) willingness to build its own facility designed for the requirement of the world-known reality TV.

Aside from Caramoan, DOT is also readily dishing out other locations in the country that the reality show might be able to feature.

“We are looking for a secluded island or group of islands in the Philippines that will be the next location of “Survivor” shooting. A destination can only be used once as a site for “Survivor.” We have to continually look for alternative sites to sustain this interest,” Jarque said.

This kind of activity in our islands does not only boost the country’s popularity as a tourism destination but also helps bring in money. For a three-month production alone, the production outfit spends at least P40 million.

Jarque hopes that the Philippines will be able to discover another site for more “Survivor” production location that is very secluded and can house at least 30 crew members and talents.

“The place must be balanced, it is isolated but can offer world-class accommodation for the crew,” Jarque said.

The reason why Caramoan Island in CamSur has become the favorite of overseas’ production outfits specifically Survivor, because the area has strings of islands, and world-class resort villas that have been built by the CamSur Provincial government initially for this purpose.