In previous articles, we took a look at the importance of public relations for dive centers and resorts and reviewed tips for building a successful PR program. The PADI® organization also offers a number of other resources to make it easy for PADI Dive Centers and Resorts to build a successful PR program.

PADI Marketing Campaign Integration

Every year, the PADI marketing team executes consumer marketing campaigns strategically designed to drive customers through the doors of PADI Dive Centers and Resorts. PADI promotes these initiatives through a combination of paid advertising, email communications, social media and public relations, among other tactics. You can help maximize the impact these global or regional campaigns have on your business by tailoring them to your dive center and market. By combining your own efforts with those of the PADI organization, you can adapt campaign messages to amplify exposure of your dive center or resort. In addition to engaging on social media, consider spreading the word by localizing a press release or media alert, and sharing with local press contacts or other media outlets to earn media exposure for your dive center or resort.

Here are a couple of PADI’s current initiatives with a few ideas to integrate them into your own PR efforts:

  • Pillars of Change:  PADI’s vision is to achieve balance between humanity and the ocean by creating a billion torchbearers that inspire others to bring about meaningful change and turning passion into purpose for the ocean. Through empowering communities to take action through ocean conservation, reduce and offset the carbon footprint of the dive industry and foster diversity and inclusion the sport, PADI is investing in programs that help create resilient dive communities around the globe. Demonstrate what your dive shop is doing to grow the global community of PADI torchbearers and how you have created ways for others can join in on your initiatives.
    • Share how you are inspiring others to explore and protect the ocean with your own PADI’s press release.
    • Distribute a media alert about your plans for AWARE Week, 18-26 September 2021.
  • PADI Women’s Dive Day: Committed to fostering a global community that encourages divers of all genders, ages and experience levels to safely and confidently explore the underwater world, PADI launched PADI Women’s Dive Day in 2015. Since its inception, events around the globe have further strengthened female participation in scuba diving, and taken on conservation and community-minded causes at their core. 875 pieces of media coverage on PADI Women’s Dive Day 2019 events reached 1.2 billion viewers worldwide.

To help you get started spreading the word about your efforts to create balance between humanity and the ocean and/or your PADI Women’s Dive Day event, PADI has created press release and media alert templates that you can easily localize with specifics about your initiatives and contact information. Or use the templates to craft your own unique announcements.

PADI’s collection of hi-res images and video footage is available to support media requests.

From time to time, media may reach out to you to request images or video footage. Sharing high quality photos and footage of your local underwater environments and diving opportunities is a great way to showcase your business and encourage more divers to explore your area. However, if you discover that you don’t have the right images or video to fulfill the request, PADI has a collection of press-ready diving images and footage that may meet their needs. Simply send (or ask them to send) an email to [email protected] with the specifics of what they’re looking for, and we will do our best to share visual assets that satisfy the request. These images and video footage are free to use for media talking or writing about diving and PADI Dive Centers or Resorts.

New benefit exclusively for PADI Five Star Dive Centers and Resorts: Reimbursement for training materials and PICs for journalists’ courses

Hosting a journalist to experience your dive business is a great way to generate authentic coverage of your business.

To support this, PADI has implemented a new program that offers reimbursement for training materials and PICs for PADI Five Star Dive Centers and Resorts that provide free recreational dive training to journalists who are working on a story.

By making dives, rentals and courses free of charge for journalists preparing for a story, you will encourage journalists to write about their experience learning to dive with you and the diving opportunities in your area. This will ultimately strengthen the coverage and relationship between your dive shop and the journalist. By adhering to PADI Standards, upholding top-rate business practices and preparing select people at your dive center to work with the journalist, you can help ensure that your business – and the local diving – are shown in the best light possible. Requests for training materials and PIC reimbursement must be received prior to the start of the course to be considered. If approved, your dive center account will be credited for the materials utilized, equal to the dive shop’s current buying level/cost.

The PADI organization’s marketing team is available to answer any questions you may have about starting or growing your PR program and can provide tips for building a successful PR program.

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