RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia tourism officials paid the reality show “The Bachelorette” more than $500,000 to film an episode of the show in Richmond.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn that the Virginia Tourism Corporation paid $536,000 in incentives to lure the popular ABC show to Virginia.
The contract required the show to mention the state’s “Virginia is for Lovers” tourism campaign and provide a link to the state’s tourism page on the show’s website.
The episode aired Monday and featured a cameo from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.
The show draws an average 6 million viewers, and tourism officials told the newspaper (https://bit.ly/2KIZua4 ) that their media-monitoring software indicates the state received $47 million in publicity value from the show.
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.richmond.com
