The Bachelor Effect
I spent a few days on the beautiful beaches of Curaçao last December before the holidays, and when I shared my travel plans with a friend, she had the strangest response. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there!” she said. “It looked so beautiful on The Bachelorette.” The Caribbean island had actually appeared on the finale of Emily Maynard’s season of the show in 2012 - the same year this year’s Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk, Jr., landed in the final two. Maynard's relationship didn’t last, but the impression of Curaçao's Easter egg-colored capital city and sugary sands did.
It’s the kind of marketing opportunity an international city or hotel could only dream of. Becoming a featured locale on ABC's The Bachelor or Bachelorette means providing the background for over-the-top dates, dramatic kisses, maybe a fantasy-suite session or even a proposal; the show depicts a place at its most romantic and beautiful. Reaching several million Americans for what is essentially an hour-long commercial is enough to change a destination forever, as evidenced by some of the locations lucky enough to be featured.
Jade Mountain, a luxury resort in St. Lucia, boasts private infinity pools, coral reefs, and personal butlers for each guest. It’s also appeared on four different seasons of the show, including international spin-offs like The Bachelor UK. “We were chosen for the final rose proposal not only once, but four times,” says Karolin Troubetzkoy, a rep for the resort. “After the first Bachelor aired, the entire destination [of St. Lucia] saw a thrust in bookings. We also saw a surge in visits to our hotel’s website.”
But the impact isn’t limited to hotels and resorts. The show has filmed contestants embarking on cultural adventures in such far-flung spots as New Zealand, South Africa, and Vietnam. They’ve shot in Croatia several times over the last few years, and the tourism industry of the young country is ever so grateful.
“We think The Bachelor has chosen us because Croatia is the perfect destination for celebrating love,” says Dražen Stilinović, an associate for the nation’s tourism board. “It's hard to make an analysis about how a certain show impacts tourism, but we can confirm that in 2017, Croatia had 475,992 arrivals by tourists from USA market, and that represents an increase of 34.59 percent compared to 2016.”
So who gets to be the fairy godmother of tourism at ABC, bestowing gifts on locations all around the world? “We have a team of producers who are responsible for the outreach to destinations, tourism boards, hotels, and airlines for partnerships,” says Nicole Woods, an executive producer on the show. “We rely heavily on the support of these partnerships, so it’s an investment on both sides.”
Just how big of an investment are we talking? One PR professional who's worked with ABC estimates that the show typically requires 50 to 70 rooms per night for at least four nights in a row - a request that represents a solid chunk of lost revenue no matter the size of the resort or hotel.
“You’re not just housing the host and the girls and the bachelor. You also have to cover the cost for the camera men and grips and producers, plus all of the back-of-house employees," says the PR director, who asked to remain anonymous. “They’re also requesting that all the food and beverage for everyone be paid for. And if it’s not an all-inclusive, it becomes a logistical and financial nightmare. Do I set up a buffet to feed all those people? And where? In a meeting space? Then I’m losing potential revenue from that meeting space too.”
To make up for these losses, properties often negotiate their mentions on the show - as any viewer of reality television will attest. “I’ll say, ‘I want X number of exterior signage shots and I want this many name mentions [of the hotel],’” says the PR director. "Then, [the producers] will ask 'How much money is this displacing? A verbal mention is worth XYZ.’ Both sides are trying to pump up that dollar amount.”
It's a hefty investment to be sure, but one that has the potential to pay dividends. “Since we filmed The Bachelor, we have grown guests from our U.S. market tremendously,” says a representative from The Mulia, a luxury resort in Bali that hosted the show's signature "Fantasy Suite" episode during Season 19. “It quickly became one of our key growing markets and still remains so today.”
The exposure has also had a lasting impact for The Buccaneer resort in St. Croix, even thought the episode in which it appeared aired five years ago. "We still get the occasional mention of the show by guests or visitors who recognize the different shot locations,” says Rebecca Hensley, a marketing manager for the resort.
Destinations agree to be filmed without any clear idea of what drama will go down there, and sometimes a season’s plotline can actually impact how much of a tourism boost they receive. Of the two American seasons filmed at Jade Mountain, one proved successful. The other? Not so much.
“[Season 14] with Vienna Girardi and Jake Pavelka had the most positive impact,” says Troubetzkoy. “The second time, Bachelor Juan Pablo seemed to have attracted some controversy prior and during the airing of the episode. As a result - and sadly, for us - the audience seemed to be more focused on the attitude and behavior of the Bachelor and less focused on the beautiful surroundings.”
And the numbers don’t lie. “The biggest impact in sales increased for the two years after [Jake's season] aired,” Troubetzkoy says. “There was no impact at all after Juan Pablo.”
With 22 seasons and countless destinations under their belts, where in the world will producers take the show go next? “What I have found over the years [is] that my favorite locations to travel to are the places that have yet to be discovered by our audience,” says Woods. “For example, everyone knows that Paris and Rome are incredibly romantic destinations but not everyone knows the beauty and charm of places like Finland, Rioja, Hilton Head, or Nemacolin, Pennsylvania. We hope that after we showcase a destination that we inspire our audience to go and visit these unique and amazing places.”
The desire to highlight places like Rioja and Nemacolin (the coal-mining capital of southwestern Pennsylvania!) is a clear distillation of the high-low appeal of watching The Bachelor. And just imagine if your Monday-night guilty pleasure could actually inspire you to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip off your couch and out into the world.
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