South Africa’s Tropika Island of Treasure season 7 ends Seychelles’ profile as a tourist destination gets big boost |23 June 2017
The grand finale of the 7th season of South African series Tropika Island of Treasure wrapped up Monday evening, after 12 weeks of spectacular coverage of the Seychelles islands.
Screened on South Africa’s SABC 3 channel, Tropika Island of Treasure Season 7 – filmed in Seychelles – was beamed to millions of viewers who tuned in for the one-hour weekly show.
TV personality Minnie Dlamini was the host of the season and equally well-known Jonathan Boynton-Lee starred as the Games Master.
Tropika Island of Treasure season 7 has subsequently been dubbed the best so far, since the start of the Tropika series. The picturesque powder-white beaches, clear turquoise waters and lush tropical vegetation of the Seychelles archipelago provided the perfect settings for the different challenges, while the contestants also got to enjoy one of the most desired tourist destinations in the world.
The PR value Seychelles has generated from this massive exposure is estimated at over 10 million Rand, which is one of the biggest coverage the islands have ever received on international television in South Africa.
The director of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) office in South Africa, Lena Hoareau, said: “This is a major boost to our marketing efforts on the South African market and the coverage was just incredible, touching many aspects of Seychelles as a destination.”
During a Tropika Island of Treasure Reunion Special episode on Monday the contestants spoke about their unforgettable experiences while filming in Seychelles and how they were blown away by the beauty of the islands and warmth of the Seychellois people.
Several South African celebrities – including actors, singers, musicians and professional dancers – were recruited as contestants for the competition and they had to choose a partner through a series of auditions.
Once all teams were finalised, they headed to Seychelles for the challenges which saw them competing on several beaches, swimming and racing in the clear turquoise ocean, running through the streets of Victoria, cooking the famous ‘nougat’ – a local dessert made from coconut, making the perfect cocktail using the locally produced Takamaka Bay Rum and sorting out puzzles at the National Botanical Garden, among many other games filmed at several other breath-taking locations.
It was several weeks of fierce competition and battle of wits as viewers tuned in on a weekly basis to see the end product, which saw teams progress or eliminated along the way in their quest to take home the prize of one million Rand.
Favourites Siv Ngesi and Khabonina Shabangu could not hold their lead in the final minutes of the competition. It was the team made up of singer Anga Makubalo and Bonginkosi Ndima who became one Million rand richer, after emerging as proud winners of the trophy.
Several local partners, including the national airline Air Seychelles, hotels, restaurant owners, private and government agencies, also supported the filming in return for coverage and credits. Air Seychelles also collaborated on a viewers’ prize at the end of the show for a holiday to the Seychelles, with accommodation sponsored by Savoy Resort and Spa.
Mrs Hoareau, who attended the filming of the show in Seychelles last year, has described the 12-week exposure of the islands on South African TV as something she has never seen before. She believes that this will undoubtedly contribute immensely towards raising the profile of the island destination on that market.
“I’ve never seen so much of Seychelles on international TV (from one project) like what I have enjoyed over the last three months with Tropika. It was stunning and without a doubt this will hugely complement our efforts in putting Seychelles out there, especially with the consumers,” she added.
Mrs Hoareau said that she has met a lot of people who have followed the show and have also been receiving a lot of queries at the tourist office.
“People are excited and have been talking about the show and Seychelles a lot. We have also done our own social media campaign around the show, featuring snippets of the islands or running small competitions, to build a greater interest in the destination,” she said.
South Africa is already Seychelles’ top market in Africa having sent 6,190 visitors to the island nation up to June 22 this year, which represents an increase of 21 percent compared to last year.
As the island nation continues to receive encouraging feedback from the market, other projects that will put the destination in the limelight are already emerging.
“I’m happy to say that we’ve had several other proposals for filming in the Seychelles in the next six months which will put Seychelles back on South African TV, notably on DSTV and the SABC channels,” said Mrs Hoareau.
Meanwhile, the 12 episodes of the Tropika Island of Treasure season 7 can be viewed on Tropika’s Facebook page or on You Tube.