This season was originally to be entitled Survivor: Dawn of a New Era according to Jeff Probst, although production and filming was initially scheduled to start on March 24, 2020, but it was pushed back until 2021 due to surrounding international travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually, the show releases two seasons per television season year—one debuting around the fall (September) and the other debuting around late winter/early spring (February or March). But due to the pandemic, the Survivor crew was not able to produce this and the subsequent 42nd season in 2020. Production had considered filming domestically in Georgia or Hawaii, but the unpredictability of the pandemic pushed filming back to 2021. On February 11, 2021, Faiyaz Koya, the Fijian Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, approved filming for this season with the crew required to arrive in groups and quarantine before filming. On March 22, 2021, Jeff Probst announced on-location that production of this season was set to start. The forty-first season debuted in September 2021.