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Making Memories for your Dive Traveler makes Good Business Sense.

(Dive Travel Business News - May 19, 2013) -- Some of the best dive vacations involve lovely surprises and lasting memories. And these "extras" often don't have anything to do with the diving. A travel pro knows that to maintain relationships and longterm customer loyalty, the trip planning process must include stand out moments that will last a lifetime. This requires pre-planning on your part. Here are six ways to add a touch of surprise and fond memories of your clients’ travels.

1. Upgrade the experience. For special clients or special occasions, use your supplier connections to arrange upgrades for air travel, dive operator and resort accommodations. Counsel other clients on the benefits and value of paying for an upgrade. When the client does experience how that upgrade contributed to their relaxation and enjoyment, it will feel truly special. read more »

Ready to Start Blogging? Do this first...

(Dive Travel Business News - May 17, 2013) -- Blogging is becoming the MUST HAVE element of any website. It creates fresh interesting content, helps with search engine optimization (SEO) that keeps you closer to the top of Google's search list) and it brings you closer to your clients.

In the dive industry, we are still seeing many traditional template style websites that don't include a blog. This is not surprising as blogging is just one more thing to do in a busy day.

True. Blogging is a bit of work. You have to set aside time, come up with topics, create a schedule, and then there's the actual writing and editing part. But it is a very important part of SEO marketing and keeps you connected you to your client. It should be front and center in your marketing strategy. The benefits are too great NOT to have a blog.

But before you even create your blog, you’re going to need to define your “brand voice.” I am not talking about corporate speak or catchy language branding that presents a facade of what the company wants buyers to think about. NO! Anything but that! read more »

TSA Packing Tips that will help Your Travelers Sail Through Security.

(Dive Travel Business News - May 16, 2013) -- Summer is just around the corner and the travel season is bound to be stressful in the U.S. With TSA cutbacks along with fewer and fuller flights, line-ups at security checkpoints are going to hold up airline boarding. Share these TSA packing tips with your dive travel customers to help them sail through the security gates:

Aggressor and Dancer Fleets offer Storm Protection During Hurricane Season 2013

(Dive Travel Business News - May 14, 2013) -- Dive travelers take their vacation time seriously and expect to have a safe and fun dive vacation as they leave their worries at home. A named meteorological disturbance can make the seas rough everywhere, adversely affecting valuable dive time. This is why Aggressor Fleet & Dancer Fleet developed a "StormCheck" program that compensates guests who lose days of diving on Aggressor Fleet & Dancer Fleet vacations as a result of a named storm.

Any guest whose diving is interrupted as a result of a named storm will receive a credit voucher based on the number of days of diving missed in the form of a "StormCheck". If the entire charter week is cancelled in advance due to a storm's predicted path and landfall as forecasted, guests will automatically receive a "StormCheck" voucher for the total amount of their Aggressor & Dancer charter. "StormCheck"vouchers allow guests to return to that destination within one year of the interrupted trip. read more »

Cayman Fights Back Against Lionfish Invaders

(Dive Travel Business News - May 13, 2013) -- “Every shot counts!” was the rallying cry at a recent Foster’s Food Fair Lionfish Tournament as Cayman intensified its fight against the invasive species for a 24-hour period on Earth Day weekend. Forty-eight volunteer divers divided into 8 fired-up teams with names like the Teal Tigers, the Silver Bullets and the Red Sail Boys hit the reefs with Ocean Frontiers, Red Sail Sports and Divetech to see who could remove the most lionfish from Grand Cayman’s Marine Parks.

Almost 600 invaders were culled in the competition sponsored by the local grocer and organized by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA), in partnership with the dive operators and several island restaurants. read more »

Underwater Sculpture Park reflects Grenada’s commitment to Sustainable Tourism

(Dive Travel Business News - April 19, 2013)-- ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada - In the silent shallows off Grenada, an Underwater Sculpture Park models the practice of sustainable tourism. The first of its kind in the world, Grenada’s Underwater Sculpture Park was designed to act as an artificial reef, offering an ideal environment for colonization by fish and colorful coral.

Recognized as one of the "Wonders of the World – Earth’s Most Awesome Places” in a special edition of National Geographic, the park is located just outside St. George’s in the Molinere Bay Marine Protected Area. Created by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, the park has become one of the main tourist attractions for Grenada. The statues are accessible to both divers and snorkelers. read more »

Belize Supreme Court Halts Offshore Oil Drilling to Protect Barrier Reef

(Dive Travel Business News - April 18, 2013) -- BELIZE CITY, Belize - Belize's Supreme Court declared offshore drilling contracts issued by the Government of Belize (in 2004 and 2007) null and void, providing a dramatic and potentially definitive setback to The Government of Belize and the petroleum prospecting companies issued the contracts.

The ruling, handed down by Justice Oswell Legall, was in response to a case brought by Oceana, COLA, and the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage. It effectively ends the Belizean government's immediate effort to allow offshore oil drilling in the Meso American Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world.

The court overturned the contracts after determining that the government failed to assess the environmental impact on Belize's ocean, as required by law, prior to issuing the contracts. The court also found that contracts were made to companies that did not demonstrate a proven ability to contribute the necessary funds, assets, machinery, equipment, tools and technical expertise to drill safely. read more »

DEMA Launches Diving For Texas Treasure Challenge.

(Dive Travel Business News - April 17, 2013) -- DEMA -- In tandem with Dive Around Texas, DEMA has announced a local diving promotion using DiveCaching (underwater geocaching) to keep divers active and having fun. The “Diving for Texas Treasure Challenge” is a Texas-based in-water game for divers and is designed to help support fun and easy local diving while providing retail businesses with a fun and competitive diving promotion using DiveCaching. read more »

Advise Your Clients to take Precautions to Avoid Becoming a Tourist Target.

(Dive Travel Business News - April 16, 2013) -- The recent robbery of tourists at gunpoint in St. Lucia is a reminder to Travel Sellers about potential crime targeting tourists at the destinations they send their clients. Police arrested one of four suspects being sought for the armed robbery of sightseers from a cruise ship on April 12, St. Lucia authorities said Monday.

Masked men armed with homemade weapons held up 55 passengers and two crew members from Celebrity Cruise line's Eclipse vessel as they toured a botanical garden, taking money, jewelry, cameras and cellphones. The gunmen escaped through the botanical garden's borders of foliage.

No one was hurt, but tourism minister Lorne Theophilus said the robbery of cruise passengers on a shore excursion in Soufriere was an "unfortunate and a horrible scenario". read more »

Renewed Questions about Indonesia Airline Safety after Budget Airline Crash.

(Dive Travel Business News - April 15, 2013) -- BALI, Indonesia - Investigators are working to determine what caused a newly-built plane Lion Air passenger jet to miss the main airport runway and crash into the sea off the Indonesian resort island of Bali on April 13, 2013.

The Lion Air Boeing 737 overshot the runway at Denpasar and belly-flopped in water on Saturday. The plane snapped in half as it crashed and came to rest in shallow water near the airport. All 108 people on board survived Saturday’s crash.

An expanding budget airline, this is Lion Air’s seventh accident in 11 years. The crash has renewed questions about how safe it is to fly in Indonesia. The country has struggled to clean up its poor air safety record while improving oversight.

However, initial debriefings, witness comments and weather reports have focused attention on the possibility of "wind shear" or a downdraft from storm clouds known as a "microburst". read more »