The partnership with Google through Google Things to do reinforces PADI’s commitment to supporting Members by removing the practical and digital barriers preventing non-divers and certified divers from taking their first — or next — step into diving.
A traveler researching a destination may not initially be planning to scuba dive. By placing relevant underwater activities within the natural travel-planning journey, PADI introduces scuba diving to new audiences while their interest and intent are at their highest. For Members, this helps turn global demand into bookings for locally delivered dive experiences.
Google reports more than two billion Maps users1 each month and says Things to do is designed to reach millions of people making travel-related searches every day2. For a dive center, the implication is practical: visibility as a business is no longer enough. The activities you sell also need to be bookable at the search point where they appear.
Reach Travelers Who Don’t Search for Diving
Picture a traveler planning one free day in Tenerife, Phuket or Curaçao. His/her shortlist may include a boat tour, a hike, a food experience, snorkeling or trying scuba for the first time. How do you make your courses and activities fit in with this plan?
The value of the PADI and Google Things to do partnership in a nutshell: scuba can reach travelers who are considering the destination, not only those already searching for a dive center by name. Without a direct product connection, your dive center may remain visible as a place on the map while your courses and trips are absent from bookable travel search results. As Google brings Search, Maps and AI-assisted planning closer together, that difference becomes more important.
See What Your Potential Customer Sees
Try a quick search from a customer’s point of view. Open Google Maps and search for your dive center. Is there a “Book” option? Then search for “tours in [your area]” or “things to do in [your area].” Do your bookable scuba activities appear beside other local experiences? Can a traveler understand what is offered, see the price and availability, and continue booking?
Your dive center may already be visible on Google, but that does not mean your activities are. As an official Google Things to do connectivity partner, PADI offers our members a straightforward solution. To make this happen you just need to list courses and activities on PADI Adventures and opt in to Google Things to do distribution channel. PADI handles the technical connection, giving your scuba activities the opportunity to appear in relevant Google searches.
Your Google Business Profile answers, “Where is this dive center?” Bookable activities appearing right next your business name go well beyond that initial question by providing information that really matters for customers, such as “What can I do there, and can I book it?”
A search for“Dahab tours” shows a bookable PADI Adventures product alongside other ways a traveler could spend the day.
Help Make Scuba a Must-Do Activity in Your Area
PADI provides the technical connection to Google; your dive center creates the bookable experiences that give travelers a reason to include scuba in their plans. These practical activation steps and listing recommendations explain how to enable distribution and prepare your products for discovery. List your scuba courses, snorkeling experiences and dive trips on PADI Adventures, opt in to Google Things to do distribution, and help make scuba one of the activities visitors associate with your destination.
Once your PADI Adventures product reaches the shortlist, it still has to earn the booking. The listing needs to make sense to someone who may know nothing about certification levels, dive terminology or the difference between a course and a guided experience.
Look at each listing through the eyes of a general traveler. Can they quickly understand:
- Whether they can join as a beginner
- How much of their day the activity will take
- What they will actually do and experience
- What makes this experience an ideal way to spend time in your area
The aim is to help the traveler picture scuba as a real, achievable part of the trip.
Read More About Google Things to do
- Turn Google Searches Into Bookings
- Increase Your Direct Bookings: How PADI Adventures Connects You to Google Things to Do
