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Fiji

THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST RACE

HOW FIJI CAN WIN

By Samantha Magick stories of individual resilience and courage and the power of
teamwork. But for many Fijian viewers, seeing spectacular
When World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji first parts of the country was also a revelation.
screened earlier this year, international audiences vicariously For local competitors, the event and the training in the
took a road less travelled. The competition, which pitted 66 leadup was gruelling, but the opportunity to see remote parts
teams across 671 kilometres, saw participants use a compass of Fiji was rewarding. “While so much of it was a grind, you
and map to navigate, and sail, hike, climb, paddleboard and would sometimes look up and go ‘wow’” says Anna Cowley, a
bike through Fiji’s interior and maritime regions. member of Team Tabu Soro, one of the two Fijian teams that
Amazon Prime, which aired the series, has approximately successfully completed the course.
150 million viewers in 200 countries and Fiji’s Minister for “Fiji looks amazing [on screen], that’s true,” says Eroni
Industry, Trade and Tourism, Faiyaz Koya, said the production Takape of Team Namako. “That’s something that takes away
injected F$30.6 million (US$14.4 million) into the country. our stress and pain, it just goes away when you look at the
More than 200 locals were directly employed, with many oth- place that was there, in your country, and you didn’t know it
ers also involved. was there.”
The event saw participating villages and communities paid “Like I had never even heard of Vuwa Falls before. I’d never
filming levies. Supplies and equipment such as water tanks seen it in any tourist brochures and then as you were ap-
and water purification technology, plus books for students, proaching it, and you could see it in the distance, and while
were also passed on to communities. there was fear in your heart—’you mean, we’re going to have
Fiji offers massive rebates to international companies that to climb that’—there was also that ‘wow’, it’s just spectacu-
film in the country. Production companies are eligible for lar,” Cowley says.
a 75% tax rebate calculated on total Fiji expenditure. The “I do think the potential for adventure tourism for the
rebate is capped at F$15 (US$7) million. The sector gener- whole Pacific is huge, and it’s a market we’re really not tap-
ated F$134.1 million (US$63million) from 84 productions in ping into,” she continues. “International adventure racers
2019. The generous financial incentives are the reason the US travel, and when they go and do races, they don’t just go by
Survivor franchise returns year after year. themselves, it’s often combined with a holiday, so they take
But there are concerns that the Eco-Challenge Fiji opportu- their families as well. So it’s not just one person coming in,
nity has not been leveraged as much as it could have. Timing it’s one person, their support crew, their family members you
and the pandemic has played a part; while the series was know, so there’s really, really big potential.”
filmed in September 2019 it was aired almost a year later, as Colin Philp, who manages Leleuvia Island resort in Fiji’s
Fiji’s borders remain closed and international tourism ground Lomaiviti island group, was a key figure in the planning and
to a complete standstill. However there also appears to have execution of Eco-Challenge Fiji. “Lisa [Hennessy], the Execu-
been a lack of coordination and strategic thinking about how tive Producer, kind of called me the Eco-Challenge whisperer,”
to market the opportunity across a range of sectors. he laughs.
Philp recommended the starting point and several routes for
Adventures in tourism the race, and coordinated the ocean leg. “I looked after the
Eco-Challenge Fiji is compelling viewing because it tells camakau [sailing canoes] section of the leg of the race, the

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