French TV series spotlights Palawan

Unknown to many Filipinos, the pristine beauty of Palawan was all the rage in France (and some parts of Belgium) last year when at least nine million people were glued to their seats for 11 weeks to watch the seventh season of "Koh Lanta."

Hosted by Denis Brogniart, "Koh Lanta" is the French franchise of the popular reality American TV show "Survivor."

Season 7 was shot entirely in El Nido in Palawan, and there could not be any better location, as attested by the host, the 16 contestants, 70 production and crew people, plus about 100 local people who worked together for 40 days to bring to French televiewers the excitement and adventure that are typically "Survivor."

"It's just incredible! The rich images, the amazing sea side, the rich formations, the limestones, the clean and transparent waters. Everything about Palawan is amazing," gushed Brogniart , an avid diver himself who is also wildly famous in France for hosting the Formula 1 race series.

Brogniart certainly knows what he is talking about as he has been hosting Koh Lanta for eight years now, taking the show to different exotic locations that are deliberated upon by the production people with much thought and consideration for aspects such as the logistics available, security, sanitary, the locals, etc.

In the past, the show has taken survivors to the islands of Koh Lanta in Thailand (thus the show title), Costa Rica, Panama, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. But for Brogniart, Palawan and New Caledonia are the best.

Koh Lanta in Palawan is also by far the most successful of the series, garnering an average of 40 percent market share with at least 10 million viewers eagerly watching the finale.

The producers of Koh Lanta were also delighted with the topography of Palawan, offering the show the versatility it needed for the tough weekly challenges, most of them physical, while providing the viewers a telegenic feast for the eyes.

"In as much as it is isolated, Palawan also has the needed infrastructure that we required, and the facilities that we require in every place, such as access for medical personnel and facilities, etc," explained producer Thierry Graff. He added that it did not take them more than three inspections to confirm that Palawan was it for the show's Season 7.

Safe, definitely

It did not come as a surprise thus for the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) that Palawan would attract so much positive interest from the French tourist market.

Marie Venus Q. Tan, tourism attache and DoT director for Western, Central and Eastern Europe, emphasized the enormity of the media mileage that the country got out of the show.

"We would even get calls from people who are asking what the regulations are if they want to retire in Palawan! That is so flattering," remarked Tan.

The experience exhilarated Brogniart so much that long after the Palawan season was over, and they are very well on their way to the eighth season, the French TV icon still could not stop talking about Palawan.

"I too get a lot of questions. From people on the street, from emails, from letters, from my colleagues and friends, asking about Palawan, and I would always say 'go, and if you can , spend two weeks.' The scenic waters, the people, the best diving sites, they are all worth it," Brogniart said.

He also underscored how safe the country is.

"I think it is more dangerous to cross the streets of Paris than stay in the Philippines. The only danger I faced when I was there was when I was jogging on the three-kilometer beach and a big dog kept following me. After that, I had a treadmill flown in," the amiable host laughed.

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Source: Good News Pilipinas