Our industry is old and getting older. That’s not a good thing.
According to DEMA’s Annual Activity Report (PDF link, stats on p. 37), the average age of SCUBA divers in the US is 45 years old. Several people at the DEMA show explained that age actually goes up every year, showing that our industry is aging.
Older Divers are Better Divers
I’ve seen this all over the various SCUBA forums and it bothers me. The argument is this:
- Older divers have more money to spend on classes/equipment/travel
- Older divers are beyond the “I’m invincible” phase, so they are safer divers
- I’m old too and I like talking about yesteryear with other old people
How about these points?
- Older divers have 45 years worth of hobbies and activities fighting for their limited time
- Older divers are fully entrenched in the rat race of working 50+ hour weeks and saving their money for a hopeful retirement
- Older divers have probably taken most of the classes they plan to and bought the gear they need
- Older divers have more yes’ on their medical forms, making the concept of Dive Today impractical
Younger Divers are Our Future
Like them or not, younger divers are the future of this industry (duh). They are the reason this industry is shrinking: activities like kite boarding, snowboarding, bungee jumping and simply travelling are beating us to them.
I am a skier, snowboarder and mountain biker and can personally verify that getting started with any of these sports is on par with SCUBA. Yet I keep hearing the argument, usually from SCUBA industry professionals, that we can’t compete with those sports on price. You are wrong. That is an excuse. SCUBA diving is BETTER than any of those other sports, so cost is not an issue.
Get With the Program
Here’s a few ideas I’ve used to successfully attract younger divers:
- Affiliate with the local snow sports and bike store. If younger, adventurous people are going there, get them to come to you also. Even if you’re paying out 15% of your class fee, work them into continuing education, equipment and travel to recoup those costs.
- Go to your local athletic club (I’ve had better luck at private clubs as opposed to 24 Hour Fitness or Bally’s) and offer a Bubblemaker/Seal Team (or equivalent) daycare. Parents work out and drop their kids off to play with SCUBA for an hour or two. Get your new/eager instructors to conduct these for free as a way to build up their classes. If a kid wants to learn to dive, at least one of their parents will too.
- Talk to homeschooled kids (and their parents). Find out if there is a state-subsidized home school organization. I helped to run a program with one of these organizations and it was incredible. Our class price went up by almost $100, but the cost to the student after the subsidy was less than $50! It was a great deal all around.
- Start a college program! I’ll leave it at that for now, since this is a big topic.
Do these four things and you will need a staff of at least 8 instructors, all who will be making decent money from teaching SCUBA diving.
What are you doing to attract younger divers?
This article is part of our DEMA Expo 2009 round-up.
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{ 7 comments }
Richard and I got our niece certified when she was 12, about 2 years ago. She LOVES it and is an avid diver. We've made a point of getting her to as many events as possible and she's already building up quite a dive log. With all the beliefs about how good this will be for her future, and the observation that it has been a huge confidence boost for her, there is one thing I find HER doing that I wonder if we're not listening to at all.
She (1) always identifies with the group of divers as "being part of the group", and (2) always assesses her peer relationships in terms of diving. When she tells me about a new boy she's met, she literally always includes whether he dives, has ever dove, or had a similar experience. The last time we were all up at Sund Rock, she immediately found the kids her age and there she was walking around in her dive suit talking about Vampire movies.
So…where exactly do kids go to find EACH OTHER as divers that is not addressed through parents, adults, etc.? The Boy Scouts thing is a good start (why not Girl Scouts, too?), but socially, are we doing enough to support their common identity with each other socially? If we can do this, they'll see to it that the sport gains its own sex appeal.
I remember Holly Beck's comments at Dive Fuel in 2007 or 2008 were quite insightful. As a kid, she used to visit Caribbean resorts with her family. As a non-diver, her image of divers was basically "fat old men in speedos pushing everyone else out of the way at the breakfast buffet so they could get to their dive boat".
For a variety of reasons, we in the diving community have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to marketing to the younger generation. We have all the elements, as you say above, to be an attractive activity for all age groups, but we need to get the message and the medium right for the Gen Y folk.
Your exactly right Des! When these kids think of Scuba Divers they think of overweight, middle aged men. This is exactly the same thing that has happened to Harley Davidson! When I think of who buys Harley's these days, I think of overweight, middle aged men…lol
Once diving became known as "something everyone's grandparents could do", it clearly lost it's sex appeal……and there's nothing we can do about it!
I guess this is where we need to look at diving being a continuum of activities that revolve around the whole theme of being underwater in magnificent aquatic environments.
For some people simple recreational dives and snorkeling adventures are the ticket.
For others, diving on deeper wrecks and some moderate skin diving are the game.
And for others again, tec diving or serious free diving are important aspects of the game, and are the very things that grandparents are unlikely to be able to do – or want to do.
Maybe tec diving – or at least deeper recreational diving – needs to take a greater prominence in our marketing efforts. The new PADI Tec 40 Course, for example, is a great program that really caters to that arena, as is say that TDI Intro to Tech program. Going tec without being full on teccy!
You are right about SCUBA having lost its sex appeal. The problem is for years we've been promoting that this sport is safe to attract people. Now younger generations don't want safe, they want exciting. So we have to get the message across that SCUBA diving is both SAFE and EXCITING.
I don't think there's nothing we can do about it though, but it's going to take a lot of hard work at a grassroots level.
That's too funny (and all too often accurate).
I've spent years studying Gen Y, but fully admit they are a tough group to hit. A comprehensive approach is necessary, but online tools can be some of the most cost effective.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's the concept of being a full-service dive center or SCUBA instructor: be able to offer your students (and potential students) what they want. Pay attention to what they're expressing interest in, then tell them about it. When I was teaching college kids how to dive, night and deep were always my most full specialty courses. I always thought naturalist was more beneficial, but it's boring to some. Give 'em what they want.
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