The Department of Tourism (DOT) launched on Thursday the first Philippine Dive Experience program, gathering diplomats from more than a dozen countries to showcase the award-winning underwater landscape of Anilao in Batangas.
The Philippine Dive Experience draws inspiration from the DOT’s flagship program the Philippine Experience, except this time it is to market and elevate Philippine diving as a unique and purposeful experience by incorporating heritage and conservation activities.
“In that we are pushing for the sustainability of dive by ensuring that it has a conservation component —a coastal cleanup, and also an education component,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco told reporters.
“We are aiming for diversification, to be well-known in the world as a destination that can offer outstanding dive destinations, but also an enriching, meaningful, and purposeful experience,” she said.
Frasco said the idea behind the initiative is to allow foreign visitors to “rediscover the Philippines not just from the lens of fun and adventure, but also for all the other reasons to love”.
A total of 25 diplomats from the Philippines’ key and opportunity source markets, namely South Korea, the United States, China, New Zealand, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh joined the event.
Among them were Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino, Laos Ambassador Sonexay Vannaxay, Thai Ambassador Tull Traisorat, Vietnam Ambassador Lai Binh, Indian Ambassador Harsh Kumar Jain, Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa, New Zealand Ambassador Catherine McIntosh, Sri Lankan Ambassador Chanaka Talpahewa, and Bangladesh Ambassador Borhan Uddin.
In a separate interview, Castelino commended the program, saying it could be replicated as a regional initiative among Southeast Asian states.
“I myself have gone to a few places like Mindanao under the Philippine Experience and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. And we have tried now to inform the Malaysians back home that the Philippines is a beautiful place to visit especially in Mindanao,” he said.
“Events like this allow us to really understand and appreciate what we can do in terms of promoting tourism.”
The DOT has been stepping up its promotion of dive tourism and has made efforts to improve facilities for visiting divers, including through the installation of hyperbaric chambers in key dive sites.
To date, its infrastructure arm the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) has placed five hyperbaric chambers in Mabini, Batangas; Mandaue, Cebu; Panglao, Bohol; and Puerto Princesa and Coron in Palawan.
An additional five hyperbaric chambers are also up for installment in Catarman, Camiguin; Dauin, Negros Oriental; Daanbantayan, Cebu; and Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. (PNA)
