Dive Professional Career | Scuba Diving Management
A University Program in Malta is a Giant Step Forward For The Dive Industry
How to improve your dive professional abilities at providing outstanding customer service to today’s scuba divers
Darcy Kieran is the author of the handbook “Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving” and a unique advanced logbook & checklists for scuba divers, divemasters & instructors.
“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” ~Will Rogers
Thankfully, Malta's Institute of Tourism Studies is not just “sitting there.” In fact, about two and half years ago, they introduced a new Bachelor program dedicated to scuba diving. And the first cohort will graduate this coming June.
In this post, we will first look at the new Bachelor program in Malta and what impact it could have on the dive industry. Then, we will discuss the possibility of a similar program in North America. Finally, we will list five steps that dive professionals can take today to improve their ability to provide outstanding customer service.
This morning, I had a quick look at the preliminary results of an InDepth / Scubanomics survey we will publish next week. A significant majority (almost a consensus) believe in a severe lack of consistency in the quality of the experience in the dive industry.
Between two dive centers or two dive instructors associated with the same training agency, the quality of service provided is often significantly different.
Furthermore, a large majority of dive center owners and managers feel they do not have the training, tools, and support to properly manage a dive center and offer scuba courses that satisfy the high expectations of today’s consumers.
Part of the problem is a lack of quality control by the brands operating in the dive industry. If 82% of McDonald’s customers felt like they never knew what they would get at a McDonald’s, you can be sure there would be drastic measures taken at the headquarters, and some local owners of McDonald’s restaurants would lose the right to use the name.
I understand that these restaurant operators are franchisees which is not the case in the dive industry. But the problem remains.
Another part of the problem is a lack of business & management training for dive professionals.
We train dive instructors to teach new divers how to remove and replace a mask underwater, but where is the training program about customer service, quality control, and business management?
Many dive centers are operated by dive professionals passionate about scuba diving. I’m convinced they want to offer a quality experience. We just need to help them do it.
A Bachelor of Science in Diving Safety Management in Malta
Wait a minute! How can a program focusing on diving safety be a step in the right direction to offer business management training to dive professionals? Bear with me for a minute, please!
Yesterday, I had a long conversation with Simon Caruana, Senior Manager, Academia, at the Institute of Tourism Studies in Malta.
It’s a three-year program offered in collaboration with DAN Europe. That explains the focus on diving safety! But there are quite a few business management courses within the program.
Here are some of the modules in the Bachelor of Science in Diving Safety Management in Malta:
- Tourism Marketing
- Economics
- Employee Engagement & Relationships
- Health & Safety in the Workplace
- Legal Aspects & Regulations in the Diving Industry
- Public Policy
You can check the complete list of modules here, but there’s one important point to mention about the list: changes are coming.
Malta’s Institute of Tourism Studies launched the Bachelor of Science in Diving Safety Management a little more than two years ago, right at the beginning of the pandemic. The first cohort of 6 students will graduate this coming June. With the imminent completion of the first three-year program, they are proceeding with a review of the whole program.
Therefore, if you are interested in joining the next start of the program in October 2023, you should expect improvement in the lineup of courses.
How Does The Malta Program Work?
The Bachelor of Science in Diving Safety Management is a hybrid program with all theory modules offered online and face-to-face activities required only for practical applications.
Furthermore, the more traditional scuba diving courses could be done at other locations, or you could be credited for already having done them, like Enriched Air Diver, Divemaster, Instructor, and Gas Blender.
Simon insisted that they were pretty flexible in scheduling activities, as some students were only coming to Malta for face-to-face sessions every once in a while. Furthermore, the program is in recess from June to October, giving a chance to the students to be active in the dive industry during its busy months in the Northern Hemisphere.
What Is Missing in The Malta Program?
It seems to me there are three areas of study that could be added or beefed up.
- Business. It’s what we mentioned above about general business management, quality control, customer service, sales & marketing, bookkeeping, and the like.
- Climate-friendly tourism. A 2022 global study by Expedia found that 90% of consumers nowadays look for sustainable options when traveling. “The environment” is no longer a side story and even more so in an activity highly dependent on it, like scuba diving. (source)
- Outdoors activities. There’s a need for dive center operators to widen their horizons and actually be outdoor or water sport center operators. Younger generations tend to be less interested in diving-only travel than the baby boomers are.
Although Simon agreed with this assessment, there is no guarantee these modules will be added before the next cohort starts in the program in October 2023. So, suppose you are interested in a Bachelor of Science in something directly related to the dive industry. In that case, I suggest you keep an eye on that program on the Institute of Tourism Studies website and contact them.
How Could North America Get a Business of Diving Degree?
A while back, Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had a project to create a business of diving degree as an add-on to its highly successful scuba diving program.
But at the time, they opted to develop a Minor in Scientific Diving instead. That program was just launched this Fall. It makes sense for them because scientific diving is of interest to their marine biology students.
However, the director of the scuba diving program at Nova, Tec Clark, told me yesterday that the door was not totally shut on the possibility of Nova Southeastern University reviving its business of diving project.
Having such a program in both Malta and South Florida would be great for the dive industry. And both locations are wonderful diving destinations, on top of that!
By the way, if you want to see a well-run scuba diving program, visit Nova Southeastern University! Tec runs a professionally managed program in all its minute details, including proper cleaning and disinfecting of dive gear in a way I have never seen anywhere else.
Another option would be for the Malta Institute of Tourism Studies to partner with a North American facility to offer at least part of their Bachelor of Science program on that side of the ocean.
5 Steps You Can Take Today To Improve Your Customer Service & Quality Management Abilities as a Dive Professional
Even if we still do not have a complete business of diving degree to improve the quality of the experience provided to scuba diving consumers, there are many resources available to the dive professional serious about a career in diving. And here are five of them.
1) Tec Clark’s Podcast: The Dive Locker
It’s free, and it’s a complete meal! Among many valuable episodes of The Dive Locker, I suggest you listen to Deconstructing The Diving Industry and The Economics of Being A Diving Instructor.
2) Alex Brylske’s Book: Beneath The Blue Planet
We mentioned early in this post how a majority of today’s consumers are sensitive to planet-friendly travel. In the case of scuba diving, it goes one step further: our clients hire us to connect with that planet!
And Alex has made his mission to promote a new dive industry that focuses on “why” we dive, not on selling gear and courses (those will sell better anyway under the new model). Sustainable tourism is a fast-moving train the dive industry needs to get on board immediately. It includes addressing trends such as citizen science and “voluntourism.”
Beneath The Blue Planet: A Diver’s Guide to the Ocean and Its Conservation (affiliate link) should be every dive professional’s ocean bible. The “Doing The Right Thing” section on implementing sustainable dive practices is a gem.
3) My Book: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor
“The chapter ‘Teaching For Success,’ I think is especially masterful (…) and portions of this book will become part of my curriculum.” ~Dr. Alex Brylske
Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor covers many aspects of being a professional dive professional, including customer experience & satisfaction, customer expectations, and offering coaching sessions instead of selling c-cards.
4) Gareth Lock’s Online Course: Essentials in Human Factors in Diving
This one-of-a-kind course covers the foundations to understand the human impact of diving and how to ensure the dives you have are safe. Essentials in Human Factors in Diving is about reducing the number of errors you make, and if you do make some, it covers how to be resilient and continue in your instructional task.
5) Tec Clark’s Online Course: Risk Management for Diving Professionals
Talking of human errors… Tec Clark’s online course provides practical strategies and tactics to ensure your safety and that of your client divers.
The Risk Management for Diving Professionals course “will not only make you a more informed diving professional but will help protect you and those in your charge so that your focus can be squarely on the wonderful sport of scuba diving.” ~Dan Orr
The dive industry as a whole doesn’t yet provide the level of customer service today’s consumers expect, but we are making progress.
“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” ~Helen Keller
Also from Darcy Kieran:
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving.
- Logbook: Advanced Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors.
- Handbook: Advanced Guide to SPF Scuba Diving for Scuba Divers, Divemasters & Dive Instructors: Develop Better Scuba Diving Skills, Dive Safer, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Logbook: STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports, Data & Statistics.
Side note: During your surface intervals, have a look at my novels with a scuba diving twist, starting with “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” and “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
You could help the dive industry by taking part in ongoing dive industry surveys. You will also find results from our past scuba diving market studies here.
Don’t be left out! Subscribe to Scubanomics: The Dive Industry Compass to be the first to know about new dive industry market data & insights. Otherwise, be our “dive business buddy” on LinkedIn, Facebook, and elsewhere.
What now? Have a look at the complete Scubanomics Table of Contents.
