Tobago on Canadian TV

Tobago’s beautiful, natural assets will be featured today on a popular television show in Canada. This became possible with the filming in the island last week of the opening instalment of a ten-week series Reality TV-type show titled Occupation Double (Double Occupation) which will be aired on channel TV A in Montreal, reaching over three million viewers.

The weekly show is being produced by Productions J, one of the biggest French production companies in Quebec, in tandem with Pram Productions. The concept behind Occupation Double deals with the question of “for love and money” with the storyline revolving around a couple. Some 3,000 persons in Quebec responded to the invitation to audition for the show and by a process of elimination, this was narrowed down to 100 and then finally to ten men and six women. It was from this final group that 27-year-old Isabelle Rochon and Samuel Labrie, 25, the “couple” starring in the first instalment of Occupation Double were selected. But how did Tobago get in the picture? They were looking for “the most romantic places” available, according to Gaston Dugas, researcher for the show. “So, to find those places, I contacted Ann Brobyn, representative of the Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO) in Toronto.

The other thing was, we didn’t want to go to the usual tourist destinations that people from Quebec are used to going,” Dugas explained during a press interview at Stonehaven Villa, Black Rock, Tobago, Friday night. Brobyn, in turn, contacted the various NTOs (National Tourism Organisations) in the Caribbean and subsequently Dugas would exchange correspondence with Carla Foderingham, manager (Film and Entertainment Unit) at TIDCO (Tourism and Industrial Development Company Ltd). “So when we saw that on the Net, we said ‘that looks exactly like what we need, what we were searching for,’” Dugas said of Tobago. “And for Quebecers, Tobago is something really exotic because we all heard the names Trinidad and Tobago, but ask people there where it is, and nobody knows!” he revealed.

It was against this background that Tobago was selected as the location for filming of the first instalment of the Canadian TV show. “It’s exotic, people don’t really know about it, but it can wake up their curiosity and that’s when we decided to co-operate and do something together to promote the tourism here (in Tobago),” he told journalists. Dugas said there was a “big promotion machine” around the show, explaining that the TV A network owns some of the largest French publications in North America, including several magazines and a newspaper. In addition, he said a large radio network is associated with Productions J and Double Occupation. Dugas also disclosed that two journalists, one representing a newspaper and the other a magazine, accompanied the entourage which included two film crews.

This means, he said, that Tobago would be in the spotlight in Canada from Thursday to Saturday via TV, magazine and newspaper. “So, it’s a big promotion thing and I think it’s useful for everyone. It was a chance for us to discover that here and to present an image really exotic to our viewers and for the people here (in Tobago). It’s really interesting for the tourism industry because I am sure people are going to ask for information about this place,” said Dugas. Foderingham explained that TIDCO, in collaboration with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), was able to “outbid” other destinations in the Caribbean. “The CTO contacted all the NTOs in the Caribbean asking for their support and Trinidad and Tobago saw it as a direct fit,” she said. “We sell Tobago as really ideal for honeymoons and weddings and all those special intimacies and special ways of meeting each other and awakening, doing your vows over so we thought it was a perfect opportunity to bring Tobago online, and we jumped on board!” The Canadian oufit arrived in Tobago last Thursday and left on Saturday.