Dive Industry has hard time to ascend
Atlanta (Global Adventures): The dive industry in the Cayman Islands is facing a difficult year with retailers, providers and businesses seeing a significant downturn. The average decrease in gross revenues across all businesses for the third quarter of 2009 was down 7.4 percent compared to the same period in 2008, with retailers suffering the most with a decrease of 8.8 percent, according to a survey by William Clein. He polled 235 retailers and dive-related businesses.
New certifications were down also, with retailers posting an average decline of 9.3 percent and independent instructors decreasing in terms of certification by 16.3 percent. “The biggest challenge the dive industry faces over the next 10 years is that the average age of the certified diver is going up and we need to do more to make it interesting for the younger crowd in their 20s and 30s,” Steve Broadbelt of Ocean Frontiers in an interview with cayCompass. “We need more Caymanians to dive; it’s like living in Aspen and not knowing how to ski. I would love to see more participating in diving, enjoying and seeing the coral reefs which would do more for conservation and career opportunities in this industry.”
The decline is certainly not limited to the Cayman Islands. Dive tour operators in North Queensland, Australia, report that the diving trade has declined 30 per cent in the past 12 months. Mike Lomas, owner of Scuba Fourways in Gauteng, South Africa, says he experienced growth in the sales of diving equipment of 10-15% annually over the last five years, until the middle of 2008. Since then, the economic downturn has caused a drop of almost 50% in his sales and dive trip bookings. “Usually the leisure sector is the first to suffer when there is an economic downturn,” he says. “People usually buy food and petrol as they are essential items, but they will cut down on the other non-essential elements, like leisure.”
There are reports that some dive related businesses in Phuket, Thailand, lost up to 80 percent of their business in 2009, compared to 2008. Overall, the industry can expect a high season that will be as much as 30 percent down on the last one, plus three or four years of tough going, says Charlie Lidureau, a Thai diving veteran.
Some dive operators try to distinguish themselves with unique offerings or certifications. Pro Dive Cairns has recently been accredited with the Advance Ecotourism Certification from Ecotourism Australia. The certification recognizes environmental initiatives implemented to contribute to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
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