For those who needed some extra evidence, the pandemic experience has fully disclosed a relatively new key trait of the modern scuba diving industry.
To attract new customers and be successful, it is essential to acknowledge an evolution in the scuba diving sector, which shouldn’t be seen exclusively through the lens of its own features, but rather under the larger category of the so-called “Adventure and Experience Travel”.
People visit dive shops to participate in the “Experience of scuba diving” during their free time, either at home or when they travel. This is a straightforward, yet overlooked aspect.
If “go diving” is at the core of non-divers’ motivation,
it should also be at the core of PADI PRRA Members’ acquisition and retention strategies.
Making scuba diving attractive to new divers, non-divers, and casual divers.
Dive Teams around the globe report confidence in managing their clientele retention efforts, and know “how to talk to their divers”. The most common real challenge is rather acquiring new divers and minimizing drop-outs from newly certified, beginner divers.
To make scuba diving attractive to new divers, non-divers and occasional divers, it is essential to adapt to how consumers get their information, what and where they buy, and how they experience the product or service they choose.
This phase in the consumer journey is crucial, yet often dive shops communicate -either directly or indirectly- in the same exact way, regardless if they are targeting certified or non-certified divers, regular or occasional divers, newly certified beginners, or potential students for continued education training.
We need to “speak their language”
Tourism motivations and traveling habits are constantly evolving, and people are becoming more eco-conscious and health-conscious, while active leisure activities are increasingly replacing “passive travel”. The nature of the scuba diving industry perfectly matches the current consumer landscape, and this fact should strongly influence our sector’s competitiveness versus other outdoor activity providers.
The digital tools of the PADI integrated ecosystem
As part of your PADI Member benefits, you have immediate access to an ecosystem where PADI training and scuba diving practice integrate seamlessly in the eye of consumers and align closely with how non-divers, novice divers and occasional divers mentally approach the experience of scuba diving.
- Dive Shop Locator and PADI Adventures
The DSL has been modernized to improve the customer experience and provide direct booking capabilities for your products via PADI Adventures. Customers have easy access to your opening hours, contact info and can book courses, fun dives, snorkeling trips, conservation activities and social events.
You may easily update your schedule and availability via the Extranet, and even include rich information about possible marine life sightings based on the season, and detailed information about the activity inclusions, exclusions, and requirements.
Your courses and activities will be bookable on the PADI Adventures App, the PADI Travel website, the Dive Shop Locator, the Dive Guides and the Dive Site Locator.
- PADI Dive Guides
These are highly trafficked SEO-oriented pages and a perfect complement to PADI Adventures and your DSL listing. They offer consumers relevant information about diving in your country, destination and specific dive sites. They feature a carousel with links to the DSL listings in that area and direct booking capabilities for your courses and fun dives via PADI Adventures.
- Referral Commissions
Earn 5% Referral Commission when “your divers” make a booking for a course or a dive through any PADI Booking platform, at ANY dive center in the world. You can also earn Referral Commissions when your divers book a Liveaboard or a Dive Resort vacation on the PADI Travel website. Basically, you can earn money even when you are not providing the service, or when your shop is closed for the season. This is an unmissable opportunity also for local dive centers to boost a sense of belonging in new divers and be part of their future diving plans, locally or abroad. Isn’t that great?
- PADI Adventures Booking Widget
An internal global survey of 500+ PRRA’s websites indicates that 63% do NOT offer online booking features to their customers. In 2022, PADI Travel interviewed approximately 3,000 non-divers interested in becoming divers. The key take was that “they prefer to book the course online straight away” and that “they need to have all the necessary info up front to do that”.
PADI Adventures Booking Widget allows you to display the products you select for direct bookings on your own website No commissions are charged for bookings via the widget, and only a 4.9% service charge is required to cover online payment fees.
To be part of scuba divers’ future purchases,
your online presence within the PADI ecosystem needs to be spotless and built to attract more business your way.
Within your post-pandemic business development, the motivation of your new customers should be used as a driving force for your acquisition and retention strategies, both for local and holiday destination-based dive centers.
Being a certified scuba diver changes the way people think about travel and PADI is in the driver’s seat making it easier for PRRA Members to join the current evolution in the outdoor activities consumers’ market.
PADI’s new integrated ecosystem lets you do business even when your shop is closed, maintains a natural lock-in effect, and provides new customers with the tools to search, compare, and buy thousands of diving products, anywhere, anytime.
To be part of this evolution, PRRA Members are only required to provide appealing information about their business and “how they dive”.
Novice divers, especially those who may be more likely to drop out, might instead become loyal customers, precisely because they experienced the ease of booking online their diving activities, they get hooked and want more in their lives. At home, and on holiday.
Need more detailed information? If you need assistance setting up your store’s bookable products please contact your Regional PADI team. You can also review the updated PADI Adventures FAQs here or send an email to [email protected].
CHECKLIST:
How to leverage the PADI digital tools in your Acquisition and Retention Strategy
✔ Make sure your Dive Shop Locator profile is rich with visual and textual information about your shop
✔ List your bookable products on PADI Adventures; they will be displayed on the new DSL, the PADI Adventures App, the PADI Travel website, the Dive Guides and the Dive Site Locator.
-
- Self-manage your content and enable divers to find you and book with you
- Easy commission scheme and automatic payments
- Feed the largest bookable scuba diving inventory in the world!
- Monitor your sales streams and payouts, manage your bookings, and maintain availability in a few clicks
- 1400+ Participating Dive Centers & Resorts have uploaded at least 1 Adventure online, across 79 countries
- 5000+ Bookable Adventures worldwide, growing every day
✔ Contribute to the Dive Guides and the Dive Site Locator and provide your new customers with the information they need to book with YOU
-
- Get your business recognized for local area and dive guide contributions
- Your products are promoted and bookable from the Dive Guides pages
- Get leads via the “Contact shop” form
- 700+ Published Dive Guides
- 2m Pageviews
- 900k+ Organic sessions
✔ Allow your customers to book online, direct on your own website via the PADI Adventures Widget
-
- The user-friendly experience that the widget offers makes it easy and attractive for customers to book with PADI members.
- Via appealing and conversion-optimized product pages rich with booking-relevant information, customers can quickly complete a booking online.
✔ Earn Referral Commissions when “your divers” book via PADI
-
- Link divers to your dive center, and earn Referral Commissions when they book activities, liveaboards and Dive Resorts worldwide
- The linkage process is easily implementable, especially with novice divers, and naturally enhances their sense of belonging.
- Only 4.9% Payment Processing Fee
- Enjoy a shared business ecosystem with other PRRA Members, worldwide.
