FAKE NEWS!!--PADI to be sold once again

[Wookie]

(And, I certainly hope, and frankly believe, that Wookie's experience is the exception.)

I wondered who would catch that.

I was an instructor for all of the cards issued, so it wasn't like I was being blessed. When I was an instructor, I taught 90% of the available specialties. But I only had c-cards for 5 of them, the 5 that I had when I became a Master Scuba Diver. But I taught some 25 specialties.

 

[Colliam7]

Still, even with that being ALL certifications, over the period of one year, that's impressive.

Absolutely!

I confess, I have a bias - I DO have a dog in this fight, and that dog is PADI. I am a PADI Instructor, etc. But, independent of that, as a business person, I have to complement their marketing, based on the success of the organization.

And, part of that 'success' is encouraging the growth of diving around the world. I have also seen an uptick in student numbers over the past year, in fact the past two years. And, as someone who benefits from that, I am quite encouraged.

 

[Easdem]

What do you think PADI specifically did that would 'cut the throats of their dive shops in the past year'? I am really curious.

I was wondering that myself. At the member forum for my current agency, there were 4 shops that had recently crossed over in our region. They didn't mention any particular gripes, but there was definitely an air of discontent with their former agencies.

 

[Colliam7]

At the member forum for my current agency, there were 4 shops that had recently crossed over in our region. They didn't mention any particular gripes, but there was definitely an air of discontent with their former agencies.

May I presume that your current agency is the one you affiliated with several years ago (after the closing of Camelot )? If so, were the cross-overs from several agencies, or did all four come from one? Just curious.

 

[boulderjohn]

The same thing happened in my area, and the reason for it was stated openly.

Where I live in Colorado, there is very nearly no local diving being done that is not tied to instruction. That means dive operators make next to no money through that means. For many, that means a major part of their income is dive travel. For some shops, that is by far their primary source of income. Their primary customers for their dive travel business are the students they have certified.

PADI is now in the dive travel business, and when students are certified, they must provide an email address. This gives PADI access to them to promote their dive travel, which competes directly with the dive shops. The shops feel that by switching to a different agency, they are not giving PADI that direct access to their students.

 

[Easdem]

May I presume that your current agency is the one you affiliated with several years ago (after the closing of Camelot )? If so, were the cross-overs from several agencies, or did all four come from one? Just curious.

Yes sir, I am referring to the agency you allude to. All four of the crossover shops were PADI, and from what I could tell there had been others. Also, and I can't attest to the veracity of this, V&B has feeling the loss of shops and was making concessions to keep the business even though they changed their affiliations. Perhaps DAN's entrance into the field has had an additional impact there.

 

[Colliam7]

I must admit that I initially failed to see a significant impact of the PADI Travel initiative on PADI shops. In fact, it seemed to me that it would be a boon to shops which were not in an optimal position to organize attractive travel options on their own. But, the actual experience appears to suggest that - real or perceived - there has been an adverse impact on shops, causing some to consider, or implement, re-affiliation with another agency.

 

[Stoo]

It’s too bad when it started as a group of dedicated dive instructors wanting to form an association to make dive training better, and now it seems to be all about the money.

I don't think PADI has ever been about anything other than making money. When I completed my NAUI Instructor certification in 1978, I received a letter from PADI within about six weeks. It advised that if I sent them $25 they would issue me a PADI Instructor card. It then went on and on to explain how PADI's goal was to make diving instruction more accessible by simplifying courses and breaking big courses into several smaller units which the Instructor would find more lucrative. You can't knock the business model, but I don't know that diving as a whole has benefited by the PADI-fication of the sport.

My concern now is that PADI has pretty much run every other agency out of business or close to it. Monopolies are rarely a good thing.

 

[Wookie]

My concern now is that PADI has pretty much run every other agency out of business or close to it. Monopolies are rarely a good thing.

Interesting observation. I don't see it myself. I'm trying to come up with agencies that have gone out of business since I've been diving. NASDS was absorbed by SSI, sort of. ANDI is weak, but they weren't ever strong. IANTD is weak, but because they forgot what business they were in. SDI, SSI, BSAC, (not really an agency) NAUI, are all smaller, but are strong. 2 newcomers, RAID and SNSI have entered the US market.

I think there is plenty of diversity

 

[Stoo]

I guess I was speaking of up here... Canada. PADI is about it. There is the odd SSI shop. TDI/SDI tend to be add-ons to the PADI/SSI shops. I only know of one shop offering NAUI certs, but that shop is also a 5-star PADI shop.

The Canadian market is obviously tiny. When I was an active Instructor, I seem to recall that a chain od shops in California used to to do more certs than all of Canada. It doesn't help that most of our water seems to be frozen for about 7 months of the year.

Good to know there is a variety of options where it matters.