DOT optimistic on dive tourism

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) remains optimistic about the country’s dive tourism, driven by its many offerings to divers.

“The Philippines as an archipelago is at the center of the coral triangle, home to biological diverse marine and aquatic resources,”Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said at the Dive Philippines webinar series.

She emphasized that diving and marine tourism are some of the country’s top products.

‘With this, the department sees dive tourism as one of the key areas for positive industry growth including increased visitor count, extended length of stay and higher tourism revenues,” Puyat said.

“We are blessed to be home to more than 300 dive sites,”she added.

Among the country’s top diving spots include Anilao in Mabini, Batangas; the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Palawan, Apo Reef Natural Park in Mindoro  and Apo Island in Dumaguete.

Puyat emphasized that the Philippines is also fully equiped with the human resource and infrastructure to cater to all types of divers.

Apart from providing gains to the tourism industry, Puyat said the diving community is also seen to benefit from the country’s environmental protection initiatives.

“It is imperative that protecting our local marine resources should be our priority and fortunately, we see divers as our allies in this advocacy,” Puyat said.

The Philippines was named as the world’s leading dive destination at the World Travel Awards in November last year.

Last October, dive sites in Batangas resumed accepting  guests for recreational diving.