Scuba Diving Resort Business Management Training (BMT)

Mermaid’s Dive Centers' comprehensive dive resort manager program exposes the dive professional to the skills and business principles needed to operate a successful PADI Five Star Dive Center or PADI Gold Palm Resort. Taking dive skills already learned from the professional level dive training now the diver gains the expertise to become a dive resort operations specialist/manager. During the dive center management training, divided into eight unique and informative modules, we introduce you to many aspects of the scuba dive industry. All modules are conducted in real life settings with real staff, divers and dive clients. As the busiest dive centre in central Thailand, Mermaid’s is in a unique position to increase your knowledge and skills and make you vastly more organized, ready and employable. Our dive resort business management training prepares the diver to enter the diving industry and work in dive centers and resorts at management level worldwide.

Module 1 – Organization: How do I keep it all running?

This is an overview conducted with Mermaid’s dive senior management on how we keep the dive center operational and profitable. Topics include:

1. Organizing Dive Trips – You will schedule the scuba diving and snorkeling trips on our 4 dive boats as well as arrange the diving for our in-house clients and those from our agents.
2. Organizing Dive Courses / Dive Training schedules – You will arrange and organize courses including the full PADI slate as well as Divers Alert Network, Technical Diving and Public Safety Diving. This will include organizing instructor scheduling, manuals, slates, equipment requirements and swimming pool logistics etc and all other aspects of actual diving courses and organization.

Module 2 – Marketing: – Have you heard about me yet?

This is a detailed description of dive business marketing techniques used to promote diving businesses, including print, visual and electronic media. Topics include:

1. The Internet: You will help design a new website as well as make some changes and updates to Mermaid Dive scuba diving website. You will have a chance to correspond with and deal with real clients by e-mail.
2. Print and Visual Media – You will have a chance to update our advertising program and help create catchy new ads and logos for Mermaid’s. We will also conduct a workshop on marketing a new diving venture.

Module 3 – Sales: Who’s going to buy my stuff?

This module will concentrate on the retail side of the scuba industry including ordering, presentation and sales techniques. Topics include:

1. Ordering and Inventory – You will help with dive stock check and order actual equipment and manuals from our suppliers. We will conduct a workshop on predicting future stock levels and ordering needs.

   Sales Techniques – We’ll conduct various scenarios from PADI’s very successful “Positive Approach Selling” program designed to expand and test your sales abilities. You will have the opportunity to make sales involving Mermaids dive clients.

Module 4 – Accounting: Where has all my money gone?

This module will teach you the principles of dive shop book keeping and accounting. We’ll show you how to mange cash flow as well and also how to price various courses and dive trips for maximum profitability weighed in against excellent service. Topics include:

1. Accounting techniques – You will run the daily and computerized accounts for Mermaid’s and see how we track funds and make sure that it all ends up accounted for and in the right hands. We will work with computerized and pen and paper accounting systems.
2. Pricing and costing – We will conduct a workshop on how we price our scuba diving courses and trips and the rationale behind our pricing scheme. You will price actual new courses here at Mermaid’s, and also open a simulated dive center with a logical price structure.

Module 5 – PADI and Company: How do I work with the Diver Training Agencies?

This module will familiarize you with the tricks and techniques of getting the most from PADI and the various training agencies such as Divers Alert Network (DAN) that you will deal with as the owner/operator of a dive business. Topics include:

1. Agency Standards – You will have a chance to confront a variety of staged and real situations regarding compliance with the Standards of PADI and other diver training agencies. Morals and ethics as well as sound business practices will be on the agenda here.
2. Paperwork – You will organize the actual student paperwork for a variety of diver training programs. We will have you deal with actual correspondence from students with certification issues as well as agency related paperwork problems. Maybe the least “sexy” but most important part of our dive center management course!

Module 6 – Customer Complaints: What do I do if it all goes wrong?

This module will train you in the skills and temperament needed to deal with those difficult situations and/or difficult customers that can make or break any dive business. We will train you in the methods of turning your loudest detractors into your biggest fans. Topics include:

1. Dealing with Diver Complaints – You will handle a series of simulated and real customer complaints designed to improve your people skills as well as keep our own clients happy.
2. Dealing with logistical problems – Here you will handle boats breaking down, compressors going bad, dive instructors disappearing, clients on the wrong boat, etc… We will set you up with numerous staged and real life situations that will stretch you to the limits of your abilities, and then increase those limits.

Module 7 – Staff: How do I handle all those people?

This module will train you in the realities and techniques of dealing with your dive shop staff. Training will include the handling of dive instructor staff, dive shop personnel, boat captains and crew and the myriad of other folks who keep a scuba business together. Topics include:

1. Dive Instructional Staff – You will work out diver schedules, salaries and riles and regulations for Mermaid’s actual staff Members. We will conduct a workshop on hiring staff for a newly created diving center.
2. Everyone else – You will work on the training and organization of new Mermaid’s staff members. We will also have you dealing with all the “other” members of Mermaid’s team from taxi drivers to boat boys. You’ll learn how to keep everyone happy and productive.

Module 8 - Marketing yourself: I am over here!

Module 8 covers getting your foot through the door to your first dive job. Essential to start your dive career is knowing how to present your credentials professionally and effectively. You will be skilled in many areas of diver resort management and this needs to be showcased.

We create a very professional scuba diving CV (dive resume) and discuss important dive resort interview techniques. Focusing on the main selling points for yourself and promoting strengths will kick start you scuba dive career.

Mermaid’s Dive Business Manager Special Project

Opening your own Dive Center – All throughout your training you will be working with an experienced PADI Course Director and the most successful diving center in Central Thailand ). Assistance in putting together a comprehensive plan to create and manage a new dive center in an actual location in Southeast Asia. Who knows, some of these plans can end up coming off the drawing board and into the real world!

Cost:

Notes:

- Exchange Rate

- Accommodation included.

- ALL manuals and certification fees included.

- Pre-requisite for Resort Operations program - The diver must be 18 years of age and certified to Dive Master or above.

Scuba Dive Jobs!

All Mermaids Professional divers are entitled to use the Mermaids partnership with Diversjobs for their dive employment assistance. An exclusive partnership has been launched with the largest and best maintained database of scuba diving jobs on the web. Dive careers are started with our special dive job service - this can be used any time after the dive training.