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What is Scuba Diving Tourism
The travel-oriented component in scuba diving is often neglected. Yet, it is indispensable to the industry because it services the goals of sport divers at various destinations worldwide.
This article overviews the pivotal relationship between scuba diving tourism and diver training, guided experiences, equipment sales, and most of all - the environment.
Scuba Diving Ecotourism: A Global Industry
It's fair to say that the incentives and motivations for traveling apply to almost all enthusiastic recreational scuba divers.
Nonetheless, the complexities for scuba travelers vary during the initial development stages and after getting certified to dive.
Put another way:
There are several ways to participate in scuba diving tourism. It can be a one-off single trip. It can be more than one, or it can even be several excursions taken during the year.
That being said, some of the best diving destinations are more popular than others. As a consequence of that, we can generally put these diving hotspot locations into three groups.
- Tropical coral reef formations
- Freshwater lakes (landlocked environments)
- Shipwrecks and cave systems
For the masses, being able to combine the joy of scuba diving with the excitement of traveling the world is a major attraction of the sport.
In fact, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) lists more than four thousand (4,074) recognised dive sites around the world.
Their diving tourism catalog and interactive map contains around 2,260 Reef dives, over one thousand Wall dives, and almost nine hundred Ocean dives.
In case you were wondering...
There are several ways to categorise the countries and areas where scuba diving is most popular. But, these three dive site would certainly be in the top ten:
- The Great Blue Hole in Belize
- Richelieu Rock in Thailand (popularised by Jacques Cousteau)
- SS Thistlegorm Wreck in the Egyptian Red Sea
Pro Tip: The global diving tourism market is massive - and currently growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 16%! In fact, it is valued at $3.8 billion in 2022 and projected to reach $16.9 billion by 2032 - according to market research conducted in 2022.
Tangible vs. Intangible Goods and Services
In scuba diving tourism, the foremost tangible or material component that generates income is diving equipment, either for sale or rental.
Thus, the educational aspect and skill development are generally classed as "intangibles". Anyone running a scuba diving business will also know that guided dives and dive charter services (including diving liveaboards) can be key for success.
Let's not forget that customer satisfaction is paramount for sustained growth.
For instance, take a look through "Private Scuba customer testimonials" and it's easy to recognise the importance of personal communication.
Environmental Sustainability
If we consider scuba diving tourism as being an ecotourism, then we should also determine whether scuba diving is eco friendly.
Some say the increasing number of divers is having a negative effect on the marine environment, and this may be true in a minority of cases.
Indeed, the sea conditions that help delicate and diverse ecologies to develop also attract the greatest number of dive tourists. In general, this is sustainable. But, it includes divers with less experience and may still be struggling to dive in an environmentally friendly way.
The Impact of Inexperienced Divers
The results of several studies show that novice divers with poor buoyancy control cause a lot of damage to delicate coral reefs.
This is one reason why the Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course (PPB) should be mandatory for all scuba beginners.
Establishing a Retail Outlet
As a recipient of scuba diving tourism you'll already have invested a significant amount of capital. The sport is not only equipment intensive, but it also has legal and safety implications for those with dive tank refill facilities (e.g. to help minimise scuba diving accidents and incidents).
Some scuba schools can operate without a dive boat, such as resorts with a house reef. But, dive boats are a large capital expense for dive shops in areas where the dive sites are some distance away from the shore.
Here's the thing:
If you're wondering how to become a scuba instructor, the first step is understanding how long it will take and how much money it will cost you.
Following that, all participants involved in any kind of dive tourism activities need to have adequate quality control and public liability insurance.
Giving harmful products to students (e.g. contaminated air in a scuba tank) is a recipe for disaster, both financially and ethically.