The French version of Top Gear includes a special hour-long overseas episode featuring a trip through the western Algarve.
There are only two episodes in the current series that have been made outside notoriously insular France, one in Japan and the other featuring a journey from Faro to the Costa Vicentina.
The Algarve Tourism Association (ATA) worked with BBC Worldwide which is responsible for programme production. The Algarve episode portrays a road trip starting in Faro and then weaving through various locations and points of interest until the drivers reach the Costa Vicentina.
The three presenters cruise along coastal and mountain roads passing through a wide variety of countryside.
Top Gear in France is highly popular and this sort of exposure for the region is very welcome by the Algarve’s hotel and private rentals sectors.
The potential and the strategic importance of the French market for the Algarve, registering year-on-year growth rates of around 39%, now has been linked to the prestige and high-visibility of Top Gear France.
The Algarve Tourism Association’s director, Dora Coelho, said, “We believe that the transmission of this particular episode will be an ideal opportunity to show the public that the Algarve is a multifaceted destination with an excellent ability to respond to different challenges and motivations presented by those visiting the region."
Coelho did not comment on whether the driving teams used the Via do Infante motorway and if so, how they catered for the two day delay in toll payment, or whether the EN125 roadwork scheme was featured.
"Looking specifically at the 'car enthusiast' segment, we hope that this partnership will contribute to the positioning of the Algarve as an interesting destination for holding related events. We not only have high quality infrastructure in terms of hotels, restaurants and services, but also an excellent racetrack which now is an internationally recognised stage, increasingly sought after by the entire automotive industry."
Top Gear France is a weekly 60 minute programme, broadcast during prime time by French TV channel RMC Découverte. Since its debut in 2015, the programme has been a success in terms of audience, reaching over six million viewers in series 2.
In October 2015, the breakaway team from the UK version of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, were in the Algarve filming for their new motoring show to be shown on Amazon Prime.
The trio were pictured at the International Auttodrome with a Ferrari LaFerrari, a McLaren P1 and a Porsche 918 Spyder.
The rare LaFerrari is the Italian carmaker’s first ever production car to be equipped with the F1-derived hybrid solution – the HY-KERS system – which combines an electric motor producing over 150 CV with the most powerful incarnation yet of Ferrari’s classic V12, with 800 CV at 9000 rpm, in case you were wondering.
Comments
Not sure why the BBC is doing this. Hopefully they are making a turn on this for the British licence fee payer, not giving freebies to the French at our expense.