- Messages
- 10,949
- Reaction score
- 4,153
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
Bingo.
So, just as is the case with many such "polls", it is a popularity contest.
The Brits are terribly curious about the Caribbean. I travelled with them a couple of times now, they have a well beaten path to Sharm in the Red Sea all the way out to the Maldives. This is their Caribbean. They drink beer like, well... they drink a lot of beer.
They want to know about our back yard swimming pool, the Mar Caribe. They do venture with regularity to the Bahamas and, curiously, Tobago. Most Brits come to Tobago just to bird watch, so they cater to quite a volume.
They also make an easy transition from their work locations in Hong Kong, etc., and make long weekend trips to the Philippines. I have found the Philippines to be really inexpensive alternative to South Pacific diving. All the cool stuff without the insane pricing. You have to scratch to find a Yank there, and maybe that's why it's so cheap. The Brits still view the Galapagos as a major trip, much as we would see the Maldives.
It's all about Geographic proximity. That, and perception.
They have had military jungle training facilities in Belize that many of their soldiers have experienced including Young Prince Whathisname. So Belize is one of those "Oh, I know how to get there" kind of places. What is the most famous "thing" in Belize? The Blue Hole. It's hype and marketing far exceeds it's actual value, but if it attracts divers to see the other truly wondrous things Belize has to offer- great! That's how the thought process works, sell the sizzle. (not necessarily "the steak")
We see such polls all the time, in magazines and here on SB. Once again, a popularity contest. Or, lately... pure fiction. I know Roatan pretty well. I look at the 4 times a year features on Roatan and get a good snicker, especially over their ever-changing "must dive" lists. These apparently are not presented as a "top 5" list, but more of a "here, look at this". You can pretty well figure that out when they say that a night dive under the dock at AKR is a "must do". With me so far?
I was always amused by the magazine's Annual Readers Ratings. I know one AI resort operator in Utila that copied the survey sheets and enclosed them in the departure packets for each guest... without any additional comment. Due to the sheer volume of responses, his little resort, admittedly a nice product but small, shot to the top of the lists.
Do the math. The magazine uses your poll numbers as leverage when approaching resorts on islands who have yet to pull the trigger on spending advertising dollars. They don't run the polls to see what we think, they really don't care. They do get their market research done for them in cold hard (skewed) numbers that they can present (in tabulated hard copies) on sales calls for advertising.
The other way to look at magazines and polls, as was said before. Look at the advertisements. They get advertisements based upon their readership. As SDM said a few years ago, they only look at Galapagos as a Liveaboard destination, "our readers wouldn't have it any other way". Look at the British Magazines... apparently they cater to a different audience. I subscribe to PADI Sport Diver UK. If your dive horizons have expanded beyond what they are peddling to us in the USA, try a European based magazine with associated advertisers.
The Red Sea has many historical wrecks. They have Sharks. What to Brits go nuts for? Wrecks and Sharks. Nature vs. Nurture? I'm going with nurture.
