New PADI Course Directors Help Promote Labuan Dive Sites

LABUAN, 3 March 2017: Tourism Malaysia brought 19 newly certified PADI Course Directors to Labuan for a 4-day fam trip to help promote diving on the island, a well-known destination for wreck diving. The effort is in line with its aim to position the country as one of the world’s major diving destinations.

The participants, who are from China, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States of America, will explore various well-known dive sites on the island, such as KM Pemanggil Wreck, Cement Wreck, Blue Water Wreck, Australia Wreck, and America Wreck.

Tourism Malaysia hosted a dinner for the participants today at Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant and delivered a presentation to promote the country's extensive toruism offerins, besides diving.

Through the fam trip, it is hope that the participants will help to attract more divers to Malaysia by promoting the country as a top-of-mind diving destination, particularly to their students. During the trip, the participants will upload photos with the hashtag #divemalaysia.

The participants are all experienced PADI Master Instructors who attended the PADI Course Director Training Course (CDTC) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, from 21 February to 1 March.

The annual CDTC is being held for the 19th year in Sabah. This year, a total of 46 candidates from 25 countries participated in the course and graduated as PADI Course Directors.

PADI Course Directors are the scuba diving industry's most influential leaders and role models. This rating is the highest and most respected professional rating in recreational scuba diving. In order to become a Course Director, the candidates must earn a spot in a CDTC through a competitive application process that examines their experience and training goals.

The CDTC is conducted by PADI staff from PADI Americas, PADI Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and PADI Asia Pacific. The event is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah and its agency Sabah Tourism Board, with Borneo Divers as the facilitator.

This is the third time Tourism Malaysia is organising a fam trip for CDTC participants. The first one was held in Tioman in 2015, while the second one took place in Redang last year.

-Tourism Malaysia.