One of my favorite places on earth will be getting a lot of positive attention starting later this month when “Survivor” begins filming its 21st season in and around San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Then, for 14 weeks this fall, some 13 million U.S. households will tune in to CBS every Wednesday night to watch 20 Survivorists tromp around the Nicaraguan jungles.
This is a big deal for a little country like Nicaragua. I’ve seen the effects of this kind of thing in the past. When “Temptation Island,” for example, aired its Isla Bonita season filmed on Ambergris Caye, Belize, suddenly, overnight, this outpost of divers and fishermen was a household name.
The Temptation Island Effect created a new and higher-end (US$1 million-plus) market on this formerly unnoticed Caribbean island, the vestiges of which I viewed recently. All along Ambergris’ white-sand coast today are condo developments built to supply the Temptation Island viewers who, having been introduced to this island paradise in prime time, wanted to claim a little piece of it for themselves. How cool it became to be able to say, “I’m going down to spend a week on the beach at my place on Ambergris Caye…you know, the island off Belize where ‘Temptation Island’ was filmed…”
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