If you run it as a legit “club”, you enjoy a lot of protections. Your profit is thus also very limited, basically getting free trips, but I know very few people who have made a dime trying to do this as a business. Once you get established, FAM trips might take you all over the world in an effort to get you to book trips or write articles. I always looked at that as my real paycheck, traveling to crazy cool places (back then) for nothing. Now they cost modest fees, usually for the airfares who are very tight.
Most of the big travel players are adjuncts to large travel agencies, spawned in the day where you could still make $3.25 for booking the air. Those days are gone. Unless it’s pure exotica, I just tell participants the airport they need to get to and how to get to the dive-op. You’re on your own for air, and that’s how most want it. You can give the truly internet ignorant some help or get in bed with a travel agent if they still exist, i dunno.
if your LDS isn’t running week long travel, they might let you have that franchise. But- Most shops use trips as a way to keep the Instructor busy doing certs in warm water. They get their land/dive pkg for free (as you still can get 1/1o comps) but since airfare isn’t your booking, that can chip into his costs. Exotic travel, to non common Caribbean and beyond, you might like a travel agent to come up with an air package, also one that allows some carrier choice to the US gateway city from East TN in your case. There you can get some help with the trip leaders airfare.
It’s actually easier to sell destinations beyond Cozumel, Cayman, Nassau and Caribbean liveaboards because any monkey can book their own trip. You start talking Red Sea or Galapagos, Philippines, people get a little less sure of DIY. But, your prior experience level With a destination comes into play.
Make your trips special in some way. Everybody gets a printed t-shirt or _____. People like that kind of stuff and they will tell their friends.
How do you market? As above, word of mouth. Not easy but patience, a perfect product, that’ll do it. Flyers in every LDS you can drive to who will let you post them. You have a very niche audience. Or a full page regional insertion in whatever dive magazine still exists (if you have buckets of money), maybe a TOS conforming mention in your local forum here on SB.
I would not mention that you are/were a DM or offer to act in that capacity. If you are current and that means something in your life, retain the insurance, but refer to the previous sentence. Cut the patches off your stuff. Stick with your logged dive count and your dive travel experience list.
If you’re looking for income, I’d bake brownies and sell them next to the pot shops...unless the Girl Scouts got there first.
Those were the days! Went to London for 3 days, Grand Cayman diving 3 days (twice)....
