‘Amazing’ boost for tourism

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture and Transportation, Councillor Nadine Stewart Phillips has expressed gratitude to the producers of American reality competition show, Amazing Race, who decided to shoot an episode in Tobago last weekend.

The reality competition, where typically 11 teams of two race around the world, is generally split into 12 legs, with each leg requiring teams to solve clues, navigate themselves in foreign territory, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and vie for airplane, boat, taxi, and other public transportation options on a limited budget provided by the show. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs, and the first team to arrive at the end of the final leg wins the grand prize of US$1 million.

Now in its 32nd year, the CBS series chose Tobago to execute its competition, which is expected to be viewed by 80 million around the world.

The Tourism Secretary believes this is a big bonus to the island.

“Tobago was the first Caribbean island in the history of the competition to be afforded the opportunity to host this event – that is definitely an accomplishment for the destination.

“The competition attracted 11 teams to Tobago; the competitors they had to go fishing at Nylon Pool, they had to play the steelpan at Pigeon Point and they also did participate in goat racing at the Buccoo Integrated Facility. After the first leg of the competition, one team was eliminated while the other ten teams moved to the next level of the competition,” the Secretary explained.

Stewart-Phillips said at the completion of the race, she was able to speak with the host Phil Keoghan who professed his love for the destination as he was amazed with the beauty of the island.

“The Amazing Race is broadcast over the international television CBS network and has a viewership of approximately 80 million persons. So this is definitely something that we should be excited about because here we would have our small island of 116 square miles being featured to 80 million people across the world. And with this kind of visibility to the island, it would definitely augur well for us as we seek to expand our reach in the global market.”

She added, “I am extremely pleased that Tobago was selected... The island has much to offer, and with this event having been hosted on our shores, placed us in a very unique position to showcase our beauty to the participants and the wider global community who are looking forward to viewing the series on CBS global television network,” she said.