Opportunities for employment and training in SEA Dive Tourism :
A comparative study
Ian Chaplin, Institute of Tourism Education, Macau
Alfred Ogle, Institute of Tourism Education, Macau
Prateep Wetprasit, F. of Service Industries, Phuket Campus, PSU.
Muhamad Muda, F. of Hotel and Tourism Management, Mara U. of Tech., Shah Alam, Malaysia
Corresponding e-mail : wprateep@ratree.psu.ac.th
Presented : The 4th Biannual Conference : Tourism in South East Asia and Indo-China :
Development, Marketing, and Sustainability, JUNE 24-26, 2000, Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Key words : dive centers, employment and training, tourism and hospitality education,
South East Asia
SEA offers diving enthusiasts an unparalleled opportunity to enjoy some of the most beautiful marine sites located at attractive tourism destinations throughout Asia.
This paper presents a comparative study of employment and training opportunities provided
by recreational scuba diving centers in the South-East Asia region. Such centers attract divers from across the globe but mainly from Western countries, to often remote locations where dive tourism is the main economic activity for instruction and certification, and an exotic tropical diving experience. Many locations have experienced a mushrooming of centers which seem primarily to be owned, managed, and staffed by foreigners, with comparatively marginal participation by locals. With the belief that more opportunities could be provided for the employment and training of local people - especially young people, the authors - themselves tourism and hospitality educators, conducted a
study of dive centers at major dive destinations in three countries namely : Thailand; Malaysia; and
the Philippines. It is hoped the findings from the study will influence dive center owners and mana-gers, the professional and recreational scuba diving associations, NTOs, resort owners, to formulate
a policy on providing employment and training opportunities for local communities at destinations which offer the dive tourism product. This exploratory study is intended to generate interest and in-creased participation by other institutions in peripheral areas - especially those conducting research on small tourism and hospitality enterprises seeking to develop the pull potential of this activity.
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