PHL promotes diving spots in New Jersey travel show

Filipino officials made a pitch in New Jersey for Philippine diving sites in the recent "Beneath the Sea" travel show, the largest consumer scuba and dive travel show in America for divers and non-divers. The travel show — attended by officials from the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Philippine Consulate General in New York — was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus in New Jersey from March 23 to 25. According to a news release of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Filipino officials said the Philippines was "rich with beautiful, exotic diving spots and can offer a great diving experience for the scuba and diving enthusiasts." Some 400 booths were set up during the event, offering travel packages, membership in dive clubs, and selling diving gears and equipment. There were also seminars, workshops and film showing graced by renowned speakers and professional divers. The Philippine Booth promoted the Philippines' top diving spots, such as:

• Coron, El Nido and Tubbataha Reef in Palawan
• Apo Reef, Puerto Galera and Verde Island in Mindoro
• Anilao and Mabini in Batangas
• Donsol and Sorsogon in Bicol
• Subic Bay in Zambales
• Boracay in Aklan
• Mactan, Moalboal and Malapascua in Cebu
• Dumaguete, Siquijor, Sumilon and Apo Island in Negros
• Balicasag, Pamilacan and Cabilao in Bohol, and
• Camiguin and Davao in Mindanao.

Leading the tourism promotion at the Philippine Booth were Consul General Mario de Leon, Jr., Tourism Officer John Agerico Rosario and Consul Zaldy Patron. Professional diver's favorite One of the travel show guests was Lynn Funkhouser, member of the Women's Diver Hall of Fame, an international non-profit professional honor society whose members' contributions span a wide variety of fields. Funkhouser, a professional diver and photographer for more than 30 years,  has been to many places in the world but she describes the Philippines as her "favorite place in the whole world." She has been visiting the country every year since 1976 to dive. She shared her personal diving experiences in the Philippines and her collection of photos of Philippine marine species. She said the Philippines has the most diverse marine habitat in the world and she sees new critters in almost every dive. She has dived in over 250 of the country's 7,107 islands. PHL: Spanish magazine's tourism destination for 2013 Meanwhile, the Spanish diving magazine "Buceadores" has named the Philippines as its tourism destination for 2013.

In a separate news release on Tuesday, the DFA said: "Buceadores announced that the Philippines is their tourism destination for 2013 during the cocktail reception they organized for participating exhibitors at the Dive Travel Show on March 24."

The DFA said "Buceadores" disclosed this at the fourth Dive Travel Show on March 24 and 25 in Pabellon de Cristal, Casa de Campo in Madrid. The Philippines' participation in this year´s Dive Travel Show saw the launching of the new "It´s More Fun in the Philippines" logo.

When the DOT's new campaign slogan was launched in January this year,  Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said the campaign is simple and truthful and answers the simple question, “Why should I go to the Philippines?” - VVP, GMA News