Diving for Good

[RedSeaDiver2]

Thinking about the discussion over in the Egyptian liveaboard fire thread, it has just occurred to me that we (the scubaboard community) have an opportunity to do some good by perhaps thinking more about where we go for our diving holidays - perhaps by factoring into our destination choice decision some thinking about which destinations are more in need of our tourism dollars. There are some countries where the people and the economy has been badly affected by lack of tourism during COVID and the effects of the Ukraine war such as much higher grain prices. Some countries have fairly competent governments but unfortunate circumstances, other countries have incompetent governments and the people are forced to suffer because of that. An example of the former is Egypt - the Morsi government is doing a lot of good work in some difficult circumstances (tourism before COVID used to be 10% of Egypt's GDP, and Egypt is the biggest importer of grain in the world), and an example of a country that is doing it hard because of an incompetent government is Lebanon - COVID, the massive port explosion, and other factors have combined to completely destroy the Lebanese economy - but it does have what looks to be some pretty good tech diving in the 40-60 metre range for tech divers.

One of the problems with the dive industry in Egypt is that many of the "name" operators are based in Europe and when you book and pay for a dive holiday with them the money gets sent to a European bank account rather than into Egypt's economy.

Should we as a community start to think more about where we holiday and who we support, and perhaps try to identify good local dive companies in various countries to help better support their economy?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I absolutely support this sentiment.
However, many dive destinations do not have locally owned operations but rather rely on expats who have relocated and started a business. Looking for dive shops in Koh Tao for an upcoming trip, I've noticed that a majority of the professionals are expats and only a few locals show up in the team photos.
In remote places like Isla Providencia, Colombia all businesses and properties are owned by residents because that's what the law dictates.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also has similar rules but not very many Saudis pursue diving so it is back to the expats to do the work.
I don't really have an answer to this conundrum other than try not to stay at multinational corporate hotels, don't eat at chain restaurants, and shop locally.
I've never been to Egypt but it sounds like the dive industry there needs some major investment and education but from where would that money come? For now I'll continue to dive the Red Sea from Jeddah.

 

[scubaozy]

Those western owned companies bring their know how and capital. They build successful models, train the locals, and locals taking the successful business models and creating similar businesses. I do not think it helps to selectively (positively) discriminate one business over the other. We should go for best quality and the concept of quality should include good conditions for the employees and engagement with local communities, social and environmental responsibility etc.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

I absolutely support this sentiment.
However, many dive destinations do not have locally owned operations but rather rely on expats who have relocated and started a business. Looking for dive shops in Koh Tao for an upcoming trip, I've noticed that a majority of the professionals are expats and only a few locals show up in the team photos.
In remote places like Isla Providencia, Colombia all businesses and properties are owned by residents because that's what the law dictates.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also has similar rules but not very many Saudis pursue diving so it is back to the expats to do the work.
I don't really have an answer to this conundrum other than try not to stay at multinational corporate hotels, don't eat at chain restaurants, and shop locally.
I've never been to Egypt but it sounds like the dive industry there needs some major investment and education but from where would that money come? For now I'll continue to dive the Red Sea from Jeddah.

I don't see expats running operations as being the problem as the money still comes into the country and mostly stays there, but in places like the Red Sea there are big European-headquartered operations that have operations in other countries as well - most of the money that those operations take stays in Europe.

The dive industry in Egypt in general doesn't really need more investment - just a bit of a tidy-up.

What is the dive scene like in Jeddah these days?

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

Those western owned companies bring their know how and capital. They build successful models, train the locals, and locals taking the successful business models and creating similar businesses. I do not think it helps to selectively (positively) discriminate one business over the other. We should go for best quality and the concept of quality should include good conditions for the employees and engagement with local communities, social and environmental responsibility etc.

That could all be done by smaller operations run by expats that live in country and keep the money in country though.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

What is the dive scene like in Jeddah these days?

Freaking awesome. That part of the Red Sea is still relatively pristine and the reefs are in great shape. Most of the diving is right from the shore / bulkhead. There are a few boats going out but they are predominantly charter or private (sheik this, sheik that).

Shout out to a good friend of mine (yes, he's an expat from The Philippines partnered with a local Saudi) whois opening up a dive shop in the US Embassy compound (Giant Stride, Jason Sikat).

On top of all that, Jeddah is seeing a revitalization and has started to renovate the original city's architecture. Of course, there is still Chop-Chop Square but other than that, it's pretty chill.

God, that reminds me of the joke, "Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

 

[BoltSnap]

An example of the former is Egypt - the Morsi government is doing a lot of good work in some difficult circumstances

The Morsi government was overthrown by an army general, Abdulfatah Sisi, few years ago and Morsi was brutally jailed and left to die in jail preventing proper medical care and medicine from reaching him. He was put in a glass box during this sham trial preventing Morsi from communicating with his lawyer and the judges. It was one of the worst trials in Egypt's history. Sisi is running the show in Egypt now with the worst corruption in Egypt's history.