From your job in the dive business, to your home, to your family, and even to your groceries, COVID-19 has disrupted nearly every aspect of our lives. The diving market continues to grapple with life during this pandemic. Recovering yes, but not uniformly. Vaccine distribution, variant concerns, infection rates and travel restrictions slow local rebound as you might expect. The PADI organization’s ongoing support includes investing in diver acquisition and engagement efforts focused on how to best support and benefit PADI Members’ businesses to facilitate diving at the local level in two main ways:

Unparalleled media outreach. In 2020, PADI Worldwide generated nearly 15 billion consumer media impressions with a focus on bringing in new divers to learn to dive with PADI Pros. The purpose? Recruiting new divers into diving under the PADI brand across the world. So far in 2021 we are already outpacing this level. With the increased investment made into public relations, media impressions for June 2021 were more than 33 percent ahead of June 2020, and July 2021 is pacing ahead of July 2020, too. The call-to-action is always directed toward fulfillment with a renewed PADI Member.Online engagement and creative local efforts. PADI Members who have leveraged the robust business and training webinars and personal consultative advice available from a PADI staff member tend to succeed when they apply these to their local events with innovation and determination. This has attracted new divers, bolstered continuing education, and kept people diving and in touch with diving locally. This has shown the relevance and importance of PADI Member brick-and-mortar stores and resorts are pivotal in keeping divers engaged.

The big picture is encouraging, yet we haven’t lost sight of the many PADI Members who still struggle. Many top dive destinations remain fully or largely closed to tourism, leaving PADI Members there hanging on by their fingernails and sheer will. While we can’t lift pandemic barriers – and it’s hard to say when that will happen for some – for the sake of these operators we can keep doing what we’re doing to support them as we continue to “be in this together.”

I encourage you to leverage the tools available to you as a benefit of membership, including:

New Diver Acquisition Toolkit. Available in 14 languages, this toolkit helps support your new diver acquisition efforts by providing customizable templates that promote learning to dive.
PADI Dive Shop Locator. The Dive Shop Locator continues to be one of the most-visited locations on padi.com. Make sure your website, email address and social media links are up to date so divers can easily connect with your business.PADI Dive Guides. The guides promote local diving and help build travel demand by allowing divers to find dive destinations and sites that excite them – locally or internationally – and then directly connect with PADI Members. You can gain additional exposure by creating or contributing to your local area guide and dive sites.PADI Conservation Activities Locator. This enables divers to see and sign up for your PADI AWARE and other ocean-saving efforts, attracting those who want to dive with purpose, as well as environmentally conscious consumers who specifically choose to do business with like-minded dive operators. Listing your conservation events on the calendar helps increase participation in your event while growing your customer base.PADI Adventures App. Encourage your divers to download it so they can connect easily with you for activities, courses, trips, etc. It connects to Dive Guides, the Conservation Activities Locator and PADI eLearning®, making everything you offer as close as their mobile devices.

Additionally, the PADI Regional Office staff will continue to offer regional events and webinars that can help you. Thank you for your membership with PADI and for your dedication to, and support of, our mission and vision.

Sincerely,
Drew Richardson

The post Straight Talk From CEO: Survival – The Pandemic Recovery Is Far From Normal appeared first on PADI Pros.

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