Isn’t that just the largest part of the pyramid that @DevonDiver talks about in his analysis of the dive industry: the experiential diver?
Biggest thing killing dive shops?
- Thread starter Eric Sedletzky
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Isn’t that just the largest part of the pyramid that @DevonDiver talks about in his analysis of the dive industry: the experiential diver?
The fact that current new divers are not confident to dive alone (in many cases) reduces the number of
referrals and diminishes the active SCUBA diver population.
The dive industry is certifying fewer new divers every year for a decade or more.
The number of dive stores has decreased by the hundreds.
A confident well trained diver would, most likely, encourage friends, family, neighbors to take
up diving.
That is not happening.
The dumbed down quickie courses is a great part of the reason. IMHO.
referrals and diminishes the active SCUBA diver population.
The dive industry is certifying fewer new divers every year for a decade or more.
The number of dive stores has decreased by the hundreds.
A confident well trained diver would, most likely, encourage friends, family, neighbors to take
up diving.
That is not happening.
The dumbed down quickie courses is a great part of the reason. IMHO.
People don't want to try diving, even in a pool, because of the fear factor. My shop does DSD in a pool. The number of men who've told me I have more cajones than they do has just shocked me.
My favorite reason for not trying scuba was from a coworker. She said she wouldn't be able to keep track of so much stuff at once and she'd drown. I'll admit I'm bad. I laughed my arse off at that one.
My favorite reason for not trying scuba was from a coworker. She said she wouldn't be able to keep track of so much stuff at once and she'd drown. I'll admit I'm bad. I laughed my arse off at that one.
As one who hopes to spend his retirement years hanging out at and helping out at my LDS, I'm worried. The economics of running a shop nowadays seem quite depressing. As an instructor, I could rail against the training I see at our quarry and what type of divers are produced. But, that gets me nowhere. As this thread started, if divers don't necessarily make good business people, has anyone learned some new tricks or tidbits to help stabilize revenue in this ever-changing landscape? I could do all the diving and travel on my own, but having the community that a dive shop can create is critical to my mental well-being and retirement planning! Back to the beginning, has anyone figured out successful dive shop business practices in this internet, experiential, entitled to what I want when I want it, go from this to that in 5 seconds world we live in?
Dish
Are you for Scuba?
I agree that the demographics have changed. On my dive trips, I rarely see young adults, unless they are travelling with the family. Interest in diving is waning as a lifeflong endeavour? Perhaps. But there are still divers out there and I wonder if the Interwebs has enabled folks to purchase on line because of the saturation of reviews on equipment? I remember when I had to go to the shop to ask about gear, but now all that information, right or wrong, is available within a few mouse clicks or searches. Heck, this Forum provides plenty of recommendations for this gear or that gear or why split fins will kill you or a BP/W is the only way to go. There is plenty of “guidance” out there that wasn’t available many years ago. Sort of makes the knowledgable LDS folks somewhat obsolete, unfortunately.
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Since we've touched on the subject of fewer young divers, I'll repeat what I said in the past. In my 4 years assisting with OW courses here, the vast majority of students were young (20's, early 30s, etc.) with the odd one either side of that. Now, I can only say that for the Halifax area here, and am rarely at the usual dive sites to see how many of them continue diving. We plan a move to the city in the near future, so I will be around other divers to check that out. When I have buddied with people on boats and shore in the southern U.S. I think there was a bit of a bigger % of older divers, but still more "young" ones. Not sure what that may mean.
DevonDiver
N/A
Let's look at what 'traditional' LDS services are now going online:
1. Scuba Retail. This is the obvious example. Big online retailers offer a bigger selection at a lower price. There's also an increasing availability of direct-from-manufacturer sales, cutting out the middle-men and reducing costs substantially. Second-hand/used equipment purchases are also readily available via eBay and similar services.
2. Dive Vacations. As per retail, booking dive vacations from specialist travel websites is now the norm. You can also book directly via dive company websites. With recommendations and reviews available from online sites like TripAdvisor, forums like Scubaboard or Facebook groups.
3. Equipment Servicing. You now have companies like Deep6 and Hog offering online training, service kits and resources for individuals to service their own regs. This is a new 'model' and will destabilise the 'traditional' notion that you should be reliant on a dealer network/technican to perform "very complex work" (it isn't).
4. Equipment purchase advice. Websites, blogs and forums now offer ready advice to a wealth of information about all manner of dive equipment selection topics. It is also more likely to be unbiased by a sales motivation from the advisor concerned.
5. Equipment configuration advice. There are a myriad of blogs, forums and groups where divers can seek expert advice on the set-up, configuration and modification of their equipment. In many cases, this information will be more expert and specialist than what an LDS employee can provide.
6. Skills and knowledge development. The internet now provides access to a wealth of diving expertise that can guide and assist the diver with their personal development of knowledge and skills. Whilst this doesn't replace the necessary provision of in-water training, it does empower divers to do much more on their own. The reliance on visiting a LDS for diving advice, via formal training or just to ask questions, is greatly diminished.
7. Social. Forums and Facebook groups etc allow divers to meet, make friends, network and organise diving and social activities. The LDS becomes less critical as a focal point for social activities and networking in a local dive community.
8. Training advice. Guidance and suggestions on the selection of continued education courses is now readily available online. This presents the diver with a much wider range of options than an individual LDS would typically offer... especially if they've chosen to affiliate only with a single agency curriculum. It raises awareness of wider, or better, options that might be available.
9. Evaluation of diving competency. Divers can post photos and videos of themselves to gain feedback, critique and suggestions for improvement on discussion forums and Facebook groups.
10. Industry awareness. This doesn't replace something that LDS ever do.. but it can nullify the 'traditional' concept that an LDS can solely define (and manipulate) how we understand the dive industry function, training quality standards, acceptable standards, and the options available to us in many aspects of diving and training. The internet offers a 'red pill' to escape the monopoly of perspective that an LDS, or agency, has traditionally enjoyed. (take this thread as an example)
DevonDiver
N/A
I suspect his analogy is to illustrate that there is little historical precedence to expect any corporation to sacrifice revenue in order to prioritise safety or the best interests of the customer.
Where (1) safety or customer care is considered, that motive only arises from legal/liability protection, where cost of litigation or fines reduces profit, or (2) where consumer dissatisfaction reaches a sufficiently low level to actually reduce revenue.
Some dive agencies undoubtedly operate as corporations.
Corporations do not benefit from external regulation.
Consumers invariably benefit from external regulation of corporations.
What we might identify is a determined effort by corporation-agencies to transfer all liability and legal risk to dive operators and professionals - thereby increasing agency freedom to empower greater revenue through tolerating or empowering reduced training standards.
Note: "tolerating or empowering reduced training standards" is NOT the same as lowering formal, stated agency standards.
It is, rather, the process of writing standards the can be easily interpreted and applied below a desireable or necessary level of consumer expectation or safety tolerance; and then turning a blind eye to that interpretation being applied as the norm.
In respect to (2), revenue is determined by the balance of consumer satisfaction. Focusing on attracting new divers can sustain revenue, even when a significant proportion of existing divers becomes dissatisfied.
Providing a high volume of new, unaware, divers keep feeding profits, little care has to be given about existing divers developing a negative opinion of the agency or it's operators.
Referring to my article on the dive industry, this means that "experiential" divers are unlikely to be cognizant of the actual state of training provision. They don't know what they don't know.
However, as a smaller proportion of divers progress towards "hobbyist" levels of participation, they are more likely to develop a better understanding of the deficiencies in the quality of training they have had previously, and might expect to receive in the future.
For the corporation, the higher profits derived from applying a low quality model to experiential divers outweighs the lost revenue which that same model causes by alienating hobbyist or serious divers.
THIS!!!!!
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