MANILA: The Philippines has won the best diving destination award in the 2024 Diving Resort Travel (DRT) Show in Beijing, an addition to the long list of citations recognizing the country's charm as a premier dive spot. In a report Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the country bagged the title along with the Best Tourism Promotion Partnership Award during the dive event held from Aug. 1 to 4. The DRT is considered to be the largest and 'most effective dive exhibition platform' in the region, attracting more than 450,000 professional buyers and visitors from 65 countries and regions worldwide each year. In a statement, Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz said the government is 'determined to project' the Philippines as the world premier dive destination, seeing the huge revenue potential in strengthening the niche tourism. FlorCruz said diving contributed over PHP73 billion to the Philippine tourism in 2023 alone, twice the revenue it generated in 2022. The DOT office in Bei jing led the country's participation in the DRT and was joined by at least 12 Philippine-based dive shops, resorts and liveaboards. The country is focused on developing a number of specialized tourism segments, with dive tourism on top of its priority. Earlier, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced plans to establish additional five hyperbaric chambers in key dive destinations in the country including Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, Boracay, Cebu, Negros Oriental, as well as Camiguin. The five hyperbaric chambers are in addition to the existing 15 placed across the country. To date, the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving has developed and audited at least 120 dive destinations in the country. Source: Philippines News Agency