CEBU, Philippines — The country’s dive tourism industry, which includes Cebu as one of the most popular dive destinations, has contributed over P73 billion in revenue last year.
“In 2023, dive tourism contributed over P73 billion to our economy, almost twice the P37 billion revenue generated from the industry in 2022,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco during the opening of the Philippine International Dive Expo (PHIDEX) 2024 at the World Trade Center Manila over the weekend.
PHIDEX is the only dive show in the world that combines a business to business meeting program, a dive travel exchange, with conferences and seminars, exhibition groups and familiarization tours to key and emerging Philippine dive destinations.
Under the Marcos Administration, tourism is now considered as one of the strongest pillars of the Philippine economy post-pandemic.
“United under the guidance and visionary leadership of our President, we can look forward to yielding additional revenue from this industry, reinforcing the Philippine position as the World's Premier Dive Destination, and tourism's role as now one of the strongest pillars of our economy, providing livelihood and employment for millions of Filipinos,” Secretary Frasco added.
The Philippines is home to more than 500 species of corals and 2,000 species of fish, making it one of the mega-biodiverse countries in the world.
With this, the Philippines has been tagged as the World’s Leading Dive Destination for the fifth straight year since 2019 by the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA).
“Therefore, this distinction for the Philippines, we take to heart with a firm commitment to ensure not just the marketability, but more importantly, the sustainability of our dive industry,” shared Frasco, who is into diving herself.
DOT, with President Bongbong Marcos' directive, has launched several diving-related programs, such as the very first Philippine Tourism Dive Dialogue on various festivals across regions and expanded its dive tourism offerings to emerging and lesser known destinations, bringing the total to approximately 120 dive destinations across the Philippines today.
DOT also disclosed that it will be adding five hyperbaric chambers in Camiguin, Puerto Galera, Boracay Island, Dumaguete, and Malapascua in Daanbantayan Island in Cebu. A hyperbaric chamber accordingly is a pressurized vessel that is used for diving to provide supply of oxygen to the divers. —/ATO (FREEMAN)