PADI vs SSI, from instructor / dive shop owner point of view

[wetb4igetinthewater]

TAKE ME WITH YOU!

(Sorry, off topic, mods can delete. It's been a long winter in Seattle.)

Continuing the OT discussion: I just flew in last night from St. Petersburg, Russia. You want to talk about long winter!

 

[JackD342]

Back to the original question: does one agency have an advantage over the other regarding ACE college credit for OW and ConEd classes?

 

[vovanx]

Do the majority of new students start scuba already knowing the differences between agency brands and purposefully seek out a specific brand? Or do they look for a shop and sign up for scuba lessons from that shop - not even knowing that an agency is involved?

the majority of students care mostly about the price and duration of the course, and SSI definitely has its advantage here.
concerning the agency brand - as there are thousands of PADI and SSI flags hanging around people get familiar with them and with much higher chance will come to PADI or SSI shop rather than some Uncle Bob's Scuba International, because they believe these are reputable companies as their advertisements are seen everywhere.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

the majority of students care mostly about the price and duration of the course, and SSI definitely has its advantage here.
concerning the agency brand - as there are thousands of PADI and SSI flags hanging around people get familiar with them and with much higher chance will come to PADI or SSI shop rather than some Uncle Bob's Scuba International, because they believe these are reputable companies as their advertisements are seen everywhere.

Yes, people that want cheap and fast are the kind of customers I currently have the luxury of not having to serve.

I hope that when I open my dive op that i mostly guide, and my customers for instruction want good.

PS. Uncle Bob is a great instructor!

 

[nutjoe]

Long winter is not the main problem in Russia, lol
I went there after reading the White Nights in St. Petersburg 2019 - Dates, Festivals, Tips - PetersburgExpert article when me and my mate were deciding where to go in Europe. Never regretted.

 

[oly5050user]

Does it really matter how much market share an agency has? Do the majority of new students start scuba already knowing the differences between agency brands and purposefully seek out a specific brand? Or do they look for a shop and sign up for scuba lessons from that shop - not even knowing that an agency is involved? It has been my experience that the latter is by far most often the case - new student's don't know about agencies, and sign up with the shop - not the agency. And even if they have heard of a particular agency, they don't know what difference an agency makes and can easily be redirected into whatever brand the seller offers. In fact, most divers (even SB members) can't describe the differences between most agencies in a meaningful way. So if most don't know the difference - especially at the start - then what difference does it make to most shop owners what agency they offer training through?

Sometimes a customer will call or walk into store , with plane tickets in hand, saying they want their "PADI" card, so name recognition helps business. For a customer who is taking a referral for the certification dives PADI definitely makes it more convient for that diver to find a PADI instructor at their vacation spot. I have had customers go on vacation and return with log book signed by an instructor from a different agency , they were lied to by resort instructor that I can get them their card based on his signature, and were disappointed that I could not certify them and they needed to do the dives over again at additional cost.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Long winter is not the main problem in Russia, lol
I went there after reading the White Nights in St. Petersburg 2019 - Dates, Festivals, Tips - PetersburgExpert article when me and my mate were deciding where to go in Europe. Never regretted.

Continue OT. I’ve been to St. Petersburg four times. Definitely the culture capital of the world

 

[Frosty]

Original question answer-In the pacific islands PADI asia pacific has done a darn good job and has market domination of selling their product regardless of any technical advantage/disadvantage over SSI. At the end of the day PADI has become the "skillsaw" term of the scuba world (in the pacific area) So On that basis I'd suggest a PADI instructor has more employment chances than SSI

 

[scuberd]

Our shop switched from PADI to SSI last year, with 4 instructors crossing over. Most of our customers are entry level who do not know or care about the agencies. The in water instruction is basically the same. We have found that SSI's materials are substantially cheaper and of better quality than PADI's. SSI seems to care more about diving and dive safety as well as promoting the dive industry, while PADI seems to be about paying PADI more. I could go on and on, but we have seen no downside to the switch so far.
We do still maintain our PADI membership for referral though, and those odd people who want a PADI cert. But, we do charge a lot more for those courses since the cost of materials is so much higher.