Why our Dive Industry does not get too much exposure in North America?

[pakman]

A lot of good points in this thread.

Personally, I'd like to see some quality liveaboard boats that could do a Cebu/ Visaya Itinerary. Possible itinerary - board at Cebu City/ Mactan - quick run down to Cabilao Island, then down to Panglao/ Balicasag, Dumaguete, and Apo Island before heading back to drop people off at Mactan. Get an all inclusive Peter Hughes/ Aggressor style high-end boat instead of the bangka safari's that just transfers people from resort to resort. Or maybe a Southern Leyte and Malapascua itinerary? Anilao/ PG/ Apo Reef combo?

And, the folks at the Tourist Board really need to work up some better TV campaigns. Sitting here in HK, I'm bombarded by Malaysia - Simply Asia commercials on the local cable channels.

The diving is great as a lot of us here in this forum known, but sadly sometimes the infrastructure just isn't there to support the big dollar dive tourists (casual and hardcore divers) that go to Bali, Lembeh, Komodo etc...

 

[Zippsy]

I know this could open a can of worms and there are thousands of issues involved but..... I am not exactly rushing back to do more diving in the Philippines because of the one issue from my last trip to Malapascua. Even as one of those spoiled Americans that everyone keeps talking about, I can put up with the last minute "boat transfer not included", walks across the mud flats at low tide, trash in the water, 1 hour wait for lunch, "dive boat can't find the Malapascua!?!", etc. No problems at all with that. In fact, it is part of the fun of travelling.

The problem I had was the constant dynamite fishing. No one likes to dive within ear shot of the bombing. No one likes to have to ask fishermen if they can stop bombing a wreck for an hour or so while we get a dive in. No one likes to see thousands of dead / dying fish littering the reef. I know people have to feed their families but that is the one reason why I am not twisting people's arms to go diving there.

Good news on tourist locations is spread by word of mouth. So is bad news and the future travellers decide for themselves.

 

[ISKO]

Dynamite fishing is illegal. Can the province of Cebu do more to enforce this law?

 

[bisugo767]

This is quite a discussion! I have been lurking for a few days just reading through and collating all the feedback. The variety of feedback from dive instructors, Philippine visitors, local divers, and divers in general is quite comprehensive. I wish someone from the Dept. of Tourism is lurking within ScubaBoard as there is a wealth of information here to help them understand the situation. Ha, ha, ha...wishful thinking! As if they care...

As this thread has grown long, I am coming out with a post to summarize everyone's feedback. I may need to re-word things a bit to keep things simple but I will do my best to keep the idea and thoughts intact. I will also add a bit of commentary for support.

 

[Hank49]

I believe it would help a LOT if you could enter the country in other places besides Manila. Iloilo now has what they're calling, an international airport. Cebu lands some flights. But Kalibo, Bacolod etc could land 737s from Guam. It would be much more convenient.
If one could avoid the traffic, crowds and smog in Manila, it would save a couple days of the trip for diving and project a much nicer image of the country. Imagine if all incoming flights to the US came through Detroit...or some mega industrial city.

 

[bisugo767]

I agree, Hank49, about convenient transportation. I am acutally glad that Cebu is now or has been for quite sometime, been taking in some international flights. In order for the Philippines to have more infrastructure to support international visitors, they need to get the tourism and business sectors up and going. I guess the law of supply and demand applies here. However, with the lack of activity in the tourism and business sectors, it will be difficult to justify and fund airport projects. One thing that the government can do is to make it easier and convenient for visitors who land in Manila or Cebu to catch their connecting fights or transportation to reach their destination. After all, the Philippines is composed of 7,100 islands. Everything is detached from each other. It is impossible to have a major port of entry at each large island but if we organize the current transportation infrastructure and make sure they are well coordinated, I believe visitors will bear with this and end up enjoying their trip. I, for one, will. However, numerous transfers take time and eat into your vacation schedule so it is also a hassle to most. But, on the flip side, it is wonderful to come across a variety of people while you travel from one island to the other. There is so much difference in language, customs, traditions, terrain, geographical features, and even weather that you will be amazed. This is one of the things that make the Philippines unique.

 

[jonix]

This is quite a discussion! I have been lurking for a few days just reading through and collating all the feedback. The variety of feedback from dive instructors, Philippine visitors, local divers, and divers in general is quite comprehensive. I wish someone from the Dept. of Tourism is lurking within ScubaBoard as there is a wealth of information here to help them understand the situation. Ha, ha, ha...wishful thinking! As if they care...

As this thread has grown long, I am coming out with a post to summarize everyone's feedback. I may need to re-word things a bit to keep things simple but I will do my best to keep the idea and thoughts intact. I will also add a bit of commentary for support.

great. i'll forward it to tourism people i know. another member here bttmdwlr (dunno if i have the handle right???) is a commissioner of the philippine sports scuba commission, probably seek her help as well.

don't get your hopes too high though...things like this move very slow unfortunately. let's see...

 

[bttmdwllr]

Hi Jonix,

Yes, I will be printing this thread out and forwarding itto the office of my boss Cynthia carrion and the the Office of Sec Durano.

As far as the DOT is concerned, when it comes to Europe, DIVING is what they are promoting more than the rice terraces, Boracay or Chocolate hills.

This year the DOt will be present in the most number of dive shows in recent memory. So fae for 2008 there is Salon de Plongee where the Philippines, is , believe it or not, the Destination of Choice for the 2008, less than a week later, there will be the Boot show in Germany ( this one has an expensive price tag for participation by dive ops, and it is booked up, then Golden Dolphin-in Moscow-and Expedition Fleet or Explorer biggest foreign guests are now thr Russians--love em love em--good divers, eat a lot , stay a long lonnngg time and spend a lot of money---

Then there's Spain, Australia, China, japan and Dema and the london Dive show. Add Taiwan to that this year. Koreans we dont reallly market to...the Korean owned shops are doing well although they do tend topatronize their own.

We are present in USA but the board is right, more than anything else, its te "terrorist " tag that kills the desire and interest, second the presence of poverty bothers the visitors and third the dynamite fishing that goes on.

But Atlantis, and a couple of other dive ops are actvely promoting the Philippines and there is teh spill over effect.

Honestly, the divers are coming slowly but surely--- but at the end of the day, I dont think I'd ever wantthe number of divers to reach a point where in we will have reefs with no coral because of diver pressure. Still a long way to go, but in places like the Maldives and palau and thailand, it's there and it IS horrid.

 

[shugar]

let's chum the water even more...

DO we want more american/ north american tourism? i mean, reading the previous posts (and save for those willing to "backpack it" like david, ben, hank and a few more) it appears that many american tourists really prefer the high-roller fancy schmancy tourism destinations more associated with the carribean, jamaica, mexico...

so why fight it? if it's cheaper for joe to fly to belize than manila why force him over here?

i'm not american bashing, i'm just saying that if there is too much competition for the american dollar, and we have to bend over backwards just to half-baked-satisfy joe average, then what's the point?

if (as bttmdwllr says) the DOT is targetting europe AND we're getting excellent results then i say: bombard europe with our marketing... strike while that iron is hot! if dollars aren't coming in, why ignore euros?

as filipinos we may have had a tendency to forget europe exists because of our 50-odd years in hollywood... but slowly that may be changing... europe's a bigger place... and we only have to compete against the french riviera...

my 2 pesoseseses

Jag

 

[pakman]

Couple of things...

1) The Euro's strength vs the all weakening US Greenback...

2) The longer holidays Europeans get vs American who are lucky to just be able to take a full week off.

So it does make sense.