Dutch reality TV show filmed in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines — Dutch reality show “Million Dollar Island,” which was filmed in northern Palawan, will be aired in the Netherlands starting March 6.

About 100 Dutch men and women participated in the two-month reality television show. The winner will receive one million euros.

“This highly rated program is another opportunity for our Dutch friends to discover the Philippines. We welcome them to our country. Enjoying the sun and beach in our tropical paradise is one grand way to cast out the pandemic blues,” Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya said.

Prior to filming last September, Geraldine Lamberta Smink of Monday Media Productions, which produced the show, and production leader Gerard Bernard Oostveen paid a courtesy call on Malaya.

“Surviving in the Philippine wilderness with minimal resources is not all about Million Dollar Island. ’The biggest social experiment ever’ is what the program makers, Talpa Concepts and Monday Media, call it,” an article on Dutch Metro Nieuws read.

Tourist arrivals from the Netherlands have grown by around 10 percent from 2015 to 2019. Up to 41,313 Dutch tourists visited the Philippines in 2019. At least 30 percent of Dutch travelers are repeat visitors.