LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines -- French tourist arrivals in the Bicol region grew more than 20 times, from 912 in the first two quarters of 2007 to 21,247 during the same period this year, thanks to the filming there of the “Survivor” reality TV show, the Department of Tourism (DoT) here said.

"This is an astounding leap," said Maria Ong-Ravanilla, Bicol tourism regional director, attributing this to the filming of the French edition of the popular reality game show early this year in Caramoan town in Camarines Sur.

France was fifth in terms of tourist arrivals in Bicol in 2007 but suddenly climbed to the top spot, placing the United States second with 11,847, Japan with 5,032, Germany with 2,844, and Australia with 2,385.

Ravanilla said the breakthrough in tourist arrivals is expected to secure a spot for Bicol as one of the country's top tourist destinations.

In 2007, she said the Bicol region ranked sixth among other regions with total tourist arrivals of 897,680. Bicol was seventh in 2006 and ninth in 2004 and 2005.

Top tourist attractions in Bicol are Donsol town's whaleshark interaction in Sorsogon, Albay's Mayon Volcano, and the Camarines Sur’s Water Sports Complex in Pili town.

Ravanilla added that for the first two quarters of 2008, the tourism industry earned a gross income of around P305 million and generated a total of 198,539 jobs.

"Our gross receipts amounted to around P443 million for the whole of 2007, but now, for only the first two quarters of 2008, we have already earned 69 percent of that," Ravanilla said.

The French Survivor started airing in the first week of July and has been viewed by some 10 million viewers from French-speaking countries in Europe and Canada.

Caramoan Peninsula, which was known to only to backpackers before it was used as a location for Survivor France, boasts powdery white sand beaches and crystal blue waters, rock formations and rich flora and fauna.