Tailored for Japanese/European/American

[Cornelius1968]

Hi everyone. While reading some of the threads here about different dive shops/resorts, people have mentioned that some are tailored for Japanese divers/tourists etc. I was just wondering what does this mean exactly? Other than maybe being bilingual, what are the generalizations (or how the dive shops tailor their service) concerning Japanese divers/tourist, as opposed to European or American ones?

 

[stevenl]

Some of the diveshops cater mainly to e.g. japanese. That means they know that market, travel agents, have course materials in Japanese, have Japanese instructors, quite often have different stock of diving equipment, different sizes for rental equipment, etc. If a Japanse person walking by a diveshop sees a Japanese person behind the counter, they are more likely to walk inside than when they see a Westerner in the shop. And the other way around of course.

But I think most important: they know that market.

The same goed BTW for Europeans. Some of the diveshops cater mainly to the Fins, or to Germans, or to French, etc.

 

[smokey braden]

cornelius1968,
welcome to this board.
you will find lots of info here and everyone is willing to give you advice.
you might want to do some research on the maldives.
i was there in 2003 and i noticed that entire resorts were geared toward visitors from a particuliar country.

i don't think they limit which resort you can go to, however i did notice entire airplanes of japanese vistors being escorted to a resort.

i'm sure you can find exactly what you want if you give this board a chance.
regards,

 

[pakman]

i don't think they limit which resort you can go to, however i did notice entire airplanes of japanese vistors being escorted to a resort.

And you'll find that same group underwater in mass numbers politely following their dive master who's waving a tour flag... Of course, they'll all be wearing the brightest wetsuits and newest equipment...

disclaimer: (I am just pokng fun at them and not racially profiling... In fact I have spent nearly a decade living in japan and have many japanese friends ...)

 

[scubashooter]

They also get charged more, less bottom time and are generally ripped off more often. Some resorts recognize that the Japanese tourist is less demanding and can be charged more for the same stuff and tailor their resort to them. Staff will speak japanese and menus etc. That's all.
I still remember my first dive with a japanese group in Japan. Talk about tour groups!

 

[Iruka]

Some of the diveshops cater mainly to e.g. japanese. That means they know that market, travel agents, have course materials in Japanese, have Japanese instructors, quite often have different stock of diving equipment, different sizes for rental equipment, etc. If a Japanse person walking by a diveshop sees a Japanese person behind the counter, they are more likely to walk inside than when they see a Westerner in the shop. And the other way around of course.

But I think most important: they know that market.

The same goed BTW for Europeans. Some of the diveshops cater mainly to the Fins, or to Germans, or to French, etc.

Stevenl hit most of the points. Here in Guam we get most of our tourists from Japan, followed by Taiwan/Hong Kong and Korea. Bilingual instructors aren't too hard to find here, but tri & quadrilingual are much rarer....so most shops will cater mostly to just "one" of the Asian groups. We have mostly Japanese & American/Europeans at my shop (I speak Japanese & my wife IS Japanese...she speaks Japanese too, ha ha.)

Not always, but in GENERAL, Japanese divers prefer more "hands on" service than do Americans & Europeans. For example, quite often they're very happy to have YOU set up, take apart their gear, remove their fins FOR them at the boat ladder, etc. Americans & Europeans in general prefer to do this stuff themselves...so I always check with them first. Some will actually get quite upset if the guide touches their gear.

I agree that they sometimes get ripped off as far as short dive times. I've heard, but can't verify, that in Japan they're often told to be back on the boat with 70 bar/1000psi. That's a LOT of air to not utilize on a recreational dive, so I try to let them (boat schedule permitting) dive as long as they want.

Another difference is that in a tourist destination like Guam, there is a fairly big "intro diver" (aka PADI Discover Scuba) market.....people who just want to go underwater & look at the pretty fish, then go back to town and do some shopping. Working extensively with people from a certain culture will help you to recognize sometimes their "non verbal" signs of stress, displeasure or whatever. Being able to write in Japanese (or whatever language is needed) on a slate can really be a big help, both in naming fish & in determining what the problem is, etc.