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CENTRALAMERICANEWS
| Sunday 22 August 2010 |
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Nicaragua
Pins
Hopes On
'Survivor'
For
Tourism
Surge,
But
Don't
Tell
Anyone!
A
Pacific
coast
beach
town of
San Juan
del Sur
has been
playing
host to
the crew
and cast
of
CBS-TV's
'Survivor.'
It's all
hush-hush,
but fits
in with
a
government
push to
market
Nicaragua
for
tourism
and
investment.
The cast
and crew
from the
television
show
"Survivor"
have
moved
into
this
southern
Nicaragua
beach
town.
But
don't
talk
about
it!
CBS
refuses
to
discuss
it. Any
locals
receiving
a
paycheck
have
been
ordered
to mum
the
word. As
though
the
presence
of a
bunch of
gringos,
television
cameras
and
strapping
work
crews,
zipping
up and
down
streets
in
late-model
pickup
trucks,
would go
unnoticed
in this
town of
18,000,
best
known
for
surfing
and
summer
homes.
San Juan
del Sur,
once
little
more
than a
fishing
village,
small
shipping
port and
site of
sporadic
combat
during
the
Contra
war of
the
1980s,
has
already
dealt
with a
certain
influx
of expat
arrivals.
They've
snapped
up real
estate
in
recent
years
and
added to
the
business
of
discreetly
placed
mansions
and
fancy
hotels.
Still,
for all
the
bohemian
coffee
shops,
late-night
bars and
Spanish-language
schools,
San Juan
at its
core
remains
a fairly
laid-back,
unhurried
town of
languid
sunsets
and
leafy
canopies.
So when
Hollywood
meets
underdeveloped
Nicaraguan
Pacific
coast,
there
are
bound to
be
winners
and
losers.
The
surfing
dudes
and
struggling
fishermen
grumbled
that the
best
beaches
were
closed
periodically
for
"Survivor"
production,
interfering
with
their
recreation,
in the
case of
one
group,
and, for
the
others,
their
livelihood.
In a
"media
fact
sheet"
provided
by CBS,
drafted
this
year,
the
"Survivor"
production
company
said it
planned
to spend
$6
million
in
Nicaragua
on
"direct
production
costs" —
including
flights,
accommodations
and fuel
— and
create
200
6-month-long
jobs.
It was
unclear
how much
of the
money
would
trickle
down
into the
community,
and
Nicaraguan
officials
say the
country's
low
prices
were a
major
appeal
for the
production
company.
The
"Survivor"
crew is
said to
have
taken
over the
entire
Pelican
Eyes
Resort,
a
gorgeous
and
luxurious
retreat
with a
cascade
of
infinity
pools
ensconced
amid
lush
palms up
the hill
from San
Juan.
CBS
spokeswoman
Lori
DelliColli
declined
to
discuss
the
production
further
until
the show
airs
next
month,
citing
"the
safety
of our
crew and
confidentiality
of the
show."
Asked by
e-mail
what
safety
issues
she had
in mind,
she said
she
meant
safety
from the
prying
eyes of
fans and
media.
Oh.
The
"fact
sheet"
said
Nicaragua
was
chosen
for "the
country's
natural
beauty
and the
high
level of
support
from the
government."
That
would be
the
government
of
President
Daniel
Ortega,
the
Sandinista
former
revolutionary
who is
currently
pulling
all
kinds of
strings
to get
himself
reelected
in
violation
of the
Nicaraguan
Constitution.
Government
officials
apparently
think
"Survivor"
could be
good for
foreign
business
investment
and
tourism,
even
though
the CBS
commercial
for the
show
proclaims
Nicaragua
a land
of
"impenetrable
terrain,
smoldering
volcanoes
and
savage
wildlife."
Granted,
Nicaragua
as a
tourist
destination
could be
a tough
sell to
anyone
who
knows
much
about
the
country's
violent
history;
bitter,
dirty
politics;
propensity
for
earthquakes;
and
ranking
as the
second-poorest
nation
in the
hemisphere
(barely
above
Haiti).
Officials
want to
gloss
over
those
negatives,
scrub
the
country's
image
and
portray
Nicaragua
as a
place of
beauty
(which
it is,
in its
way). In
fact,
tourism
has been
growing
modestly
but
steadily
since
2005,
the year
before
Ortega
was
elected
for a
second
time
around.
Nicaragua,
officials
say, was
the only
country
in
Central
America
where
the
number
of
visitors
and
tourism
revenue
grew in
the
difficult
year
2009.
Now the
government
is
counting
on
"Survivor"
to drive
the
trend
and has
granted
the
producers
tax
breaks,
access
to
public
beaches
and
jungle
land,
and
other
incentives.
Javier
Chamorro,
head of
the
semiofficial
Nicaraguan
Investment
Promotion
Agency,
said the
costs
and any
inconveniences
for
residents
were far
outweighed
by
potential
benefits.
"We're
trying
for an
exposure
we never
had,"
Chamorro
said.
"The
more
buzz
there
is, the
more
positive
it is
for us." | |
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