Queenstown will beam into millions of US homes in a New Zealand episode of the reality television show The Biggest Loser: Couples.
Two episodes of the top-rating show were filmed secretly in New Zealand in February this year and the second episode, which airs on April 19, features the remaining eight contestants battling it out in Queenstown.
The show follows the contestants on a river-boarding challenge, with the winner receiving the immunity prize plus a helicopter ride to Milford Sound.
It also features The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney and some of the contestants bungy jumping, rock climbing and canyon swinging.
Feedback from The Biggest Loser team showed Queenstown to be a hit.
Trainer Bob Harper tweeted: "We are in Queenstown, New Zealand, and I gotta say God really outdid himself down here. This place is fantastic."
Sweeney was also a big fan, posting the following blog while in Queenstown: "I am having such a fantastic time in New Zealand. Every beautiful day here leads to another exciting adventure."
The Biggest Loser regularly attracts more than nine million viewers in the US.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said the show was targeted by Tourism New Zealand as a high-profile opportunity to advertise New Zealand's "beauty, thrilling adventures and demonstrate how accessible and fun it is to Americans considering a visit. The US is a major source of visitors to New Zealand, with 190,000 travellers arriving in the last year."
DQ assisted with the logistics of the visit and various Queenstown operators gave their time and expertise to ensure filming was a success.
Mr Everitt said it was a fantastic opportunity to show Queenstown to one of its major international visitor markets.
"Money can't buy the kind of exposure this has given Queenstown. This has given us some real cut-through to a huge US audience, which is a difficult thing to do given the size of its media industry. In time, the series will also roll out to the rest of the world which will give us even more international exposure."
