Divers are starting to plan their next underwater adventure!
As travel restrictions begin to ease in areas around the globe, now is the perfect time to get your dive destination on the map and make it the real MVP selection by getting it listed on PADI Dive Guides. PADI Dive Guides allow both new and certified divers to explore dive opportunities by both continent and country—with local dive destinations provided by PADI® Members themselves.
PADI Dive Guides are an easy, effective and free way to inspire those seeking adventure to book a dive trip or dive course with you. But how do you make your dive destination stand above the rest?
Here’s how:
Dive Guide Highlight: Australia
We’re diving in down under to highlight Dive Guides Australia as an example of what you can create for your own destination.
To help get you started, PADI has already created the overview of continents and countries, which similar to the case of Australia, includes a big picture overview of the destination, tips on when to visit and what marine life divers may encounter.
Building and Contributing to a Destination Guide: Great Barrier Reef
From here, PADI Dive Guides drill down into more regionalized locations in the country. This is where PADI Members can get really get involved and create regionalized locations referred to as Destination Guides!
Referencing the Dive Guide Australia example, the Destination Guide Diving in the Great Barrier Reef has already been built—but it is still able to be contributed to by PADI Members! While the general imagery and information such as common marine life and when to dive has been published, PADI Members are able to add their own local knowledge, which is invaluable, to this page themselves!
For example, if a PADI Member wanted to add to the Great Barrier Reef Destination Guide, they would simply go to the Dive Guide Portal, select “Australia” for Country and “Great Barrier Reef” for the area.
They will then be able to:
Provide edit suggestions for descriptions and details already published. Information doesn’t just have to be below the surface—above surface knowledge such as the perfect post-dive brunch spot are equally beneficial for these guides.Add images or videos about this destination. This can be anything from marine life sightings in the area, action shots or video footage that gives insight into what it is like to have a dive trip to that destination.
By creating a regionalized Destination Guide, PADI Members are able to highlight their local destination and dive site locations, along with their industry knowledge to further inspire divers to book an experience with them.
Creating or Contributing to a Dive Site: “Bashful Bommie”
Divers may also dive deeper into specific destinations by learning about local dive sites. Similar to the Destination Guides, PADI Members have opportunity to create specific dive sites that they take divers to. In this example, Scuba IQ used the easy and intuitive Dive Guides online portal to create a dive site called ‘Bashful Bommie’.
When exploring the ‘Bashful Bommie’ page, divers learn about the specific site, including recommended dive experience and the type of marine life they might encounter. But, that’s not the end of this site’s development. If additional PADI Dive Centers or Resorts that frequent this site wish to do so, they can suggest edits to this site and add details such as the dive site type (example, wreck dive, wall dive, sandy bottom, etc.), the type of water entry required such as beach or boat entry, suggested gear to wear, depth information, additional images and video, dive site sketches, and more. The richer and more in-depth the information, the more inspired divers will be to visit!
How to make your own version of a ‘Bashful Bommie’ page:
Creating your local destination or dive site pages in Dive Guides is easy and straightforward:
Step 1: Log in to the PADI Pros’ Site
Log into the PADI Pros’ Site and click on the PADI Dive Guide & Dive Site Editor. Then, select “Destination Guide” to create or edit a local area guide. Or, select “Dive Site” to create or edit a local dive site. As an area expert, PADI Retail, Resort and Professional members are able to describe and promote local diving in their respective destinations.
Step 2: Describe your dive location
PADI Members know their local dive sites better than anyone, so here is the place to truly inspire divers to come explore your special place in the world. Contributing to both the Destination Guide and Dive Site pages allows for a unique opportunity to tell the story of what makes this place so special—everything from the history of the place, marine encounters and what that specific place is doing to help save the ocean.
Step 3: Link your activities to the dive location
Seal the deal with interested divers and showcase your local dive offerings on both destination and dive site pages. If you haven’t already done so, sign up for PADI Adventures so divers can book directly with you and you can start preparing to give them an underwater adventure of a lifetime!
Bonus Benefits from Creating a Dive Guide:
In addition to inspiring more divers to seek adventure and save the ocean with your business directly, creating local destination and dive site guides benefit PADI Members in these additional four ways:
Increased Traffic– By leveraging PADI.com’s reach and PADI marketing efforts, PADI Members can attract more customers to their location by adding local destination guides and dive sites. PADI Members who create and edit destination and dive site guides are listed as contributors on these pages. Diver Leads from Contact Forms– All PADI shops and resorts within a specific destination are linked on the related destination pages. Each listing includes a ‘Contact Shop’ form to generate customer leads that are sent directly to the store or resort. Diver Leads from Custom Business Page– PADI Retail and Resort contributors receive recognition and links to business listings on PADI.com, which can be created at no charge – these links and pages connect divers directly with the PADI dive operators. PADI Adventures Bookings Offered– PADI Members who use PADI Adventuresto increase their dive and course bookings receive the added bonus of having their dive offerings appear on relevant destination, dive site and dive business pages. This makes it easy for divers to immediately book while diver interest and enthusiasm is high.
Ready to make your dive destination the real MVP? Check out these additional recourses to ensure you receive all the benefits that Dive Guides offer PADI Members.
Read ‘PADI Dive Guides – Inform. Inspire. Acquire.‘Download this Dive Guides best practices guide.
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Business of Diving / Business Support, Marketing & Social Media, dive guides, dive travelPADI Pros