Posted by Dalia on July 17, 2001 at 18:12:31:
In Reply to: Re: not a good generalization however posted by MHK on July 17, 2001 at 17:36:18:
MHK, what is by the way your name?
I am not sure, that dillution is the proper term for what you are saying.
By removing the boot camp quality skills from the
program, they have made it accessible to more people. That means, that more people will be learning to dive, more gear will be bought, manufacturers will have an incentive to produce better quality product. Dive centers and resorts will blossom and all of us will benefit from this chain reaction. The only draw back for some folks is, that they will no longer be one of a kind, diving is becoming a family recreation.
Some statistics, from DAN's data base.
Even with the hugely increased amount of divers worldwide, the amount of fatalities has not gone up. As we all agreed on this forum, most are Padi
divers. So, we must be doing something right.
As to your question about the IDC, it directly relates to what I have stated above. It's not only
the classes that Padi is striving to sell, there isn't much money in them. It's the better training
they are after and the chain reaction I mentioned
above, that will insure the survival of the dive
industry altogether. We are in a steep competition
with other sports and even though diving is different and requires life support gear, it has evoloved from the Seahunt days and has become more
accessible.
The reason Padi has a great market share is because they understood, that the only way to promote diving, is to make it simple for the average person out there. Instructors hold the power in their hands to weed out the ones, they don't see fit for diving. I am not saying the system is perfect, but it has worked out for the benefit of all of us.
Dalia