KAILUA, KONA, Hawai'i — The stage is almost set to start spinning the "Wheel of Fortune" on the Big Island, and local officials are viewing it more as a tourist draw than a game show.

The popular TV quiz show will tape 20 episodes on an outdoor set at the Hilton Waikoloa Village to be broadcast nationally in November and February.

"You can't really buy advertising like this," said George Applegate, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau. "It's a very popular show, and at a time when it's not as great as usual, we're excited for the exposure on national television. It will help us define ourselves as the Big Island."

Applegate said tourism promoters are viewing the show as an opportunity to showcase the best of Hawai'i — from its trademark hospitality and scenery to the contestants, who are all Hawai'i residents.

"This is Hawai'i. There is a real place called Hawai'i and this is where aloha lives," Applegate said. "This is a chance for our local contestants to show off Hawai'i, and we can really put our best foot forward."

The show, which has filmed once before on the Big Island and twice on O'ahu, features longtime hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White and the famous wheel.

Sajak comes to Hawai'i frequently for another pursuit — to appear in plays with KHON2 news anchor Joe Moore, who served with him in Vietnam.

The show brought with it about 200 staff and crew, and another 200 have been hired in Hawai'i to create the oceanside set, provide security and support the production.

Construction on the set began more than a week ago, after the arrival of 37 40-foot containers, 10 53-foot trailers, 1.8 million pounds of equipment and six miles of cable. Total cost of the production is estimated at $5 million.

By lunchtime Monday, towering scaffolding held rows of lights, and bleachers that will seat 1,000 were in place. Palm-frond huts, palm trees and plumeria bushes were being wheeled into place, and the puzzle board was set up.

The show's centerpiece — the 8-foot, 4,000-pound wheel — was carefully being pieced together section by section.

Taping begins Friday and continues until Tuesday.

"It's a pretty big deal. It never gets old," said executive producer Harry Friedman. "We're really excited. Seven years is way too long between visits."

Friedman said a trip to Hawai'i is always a favorite prize for contestants on the show, which airs weeknights on more than 200 stations across the country and is seen by up to 15 million viewers.

"For all of our viewers, Hawai'i is the No. 1 destination. There's really no other place that has the same allure as Hawai'i," he said. "For the state and the Big Island, it's like a weeklong commercial."

Friedman said the Hawai'i shows will be broadcast for three weeks in November after the presidential election, and a fourth week will be featured just before Valentine's Day.

The highlight will be a Hawai'i "second honeymoon" sweepstakes, Friedman said, and "people on the Mainland will be really ready for that by February."