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cline group scuba marketing

Dive Retailers Expect Sales for 2nd Quarter 2007 to Be Ahead of the Same Period in 2006:

> 65% of Retailers expect their 2nd Q 2007 Gross Overall sales to exceed their 2006 2nd Q figures.
> 49% of Independent Instructors expect their 2nd Q 2007 Gross Overall sales to exceed their 2006 2nd Q figures.
> 64% of Dive Related Manufacturers expect their 2nd Q 2007 Gross Overall sales to exceed their 2006 2nd Q figures.

Summary:

> In general, although confidence is high for the 2nd Quarter of 2007 and many businesses posted a gain, overall, revenues were up and certifications  were down for retailers and instructors. Independent instructors posted the least optimism for the 2nd Quarter, in terms of certifications.
> Furthermore, respondents from the USA, Europe and South Pacific Regions indicated the most optimism for the 2nd Quarter of 2007.

Cline Group, Creators of:
> Scuba Diving Magazine (1990)
> The Cline Diving Industry Studies (1992, 1994, 2004)
> The Scuba Tour (1998-2000)
Strategic Branding & Marketing For:
> The Bahamas Tourism Board (1992-current)
> Bonaire's Tourism Board (1993 - 2000)
> Barbados's Tourism Board (2000)
> The Dutch Caribbean Diving Alliance (DEMA 1998/1999)
> The Scuba Tour (1998-2000)
> Mini-B North America (2003-2004)
> Sand Dollar Resort, Bonaire (1992-current)
> Stuart Cove's Dive The Bahamas (2004-current)

Cline Diving Industry Survey Results

1st Quarter 2007 Dive Business Survey

Cline's Quarterly Dive Industry Survey is in, a total of 223 dive businesses responded to this survey, and indicated the following results:

  1. All dive businesses saw, on average, a 10.1% increase in their gross revenues for the 1st Quarter of 2007 versus the same period in 2006.
  2. Retailers specifically saw a 14.8% increase in gross revenues for this same period.
  3. New certifications were down -1.5% specifically for Retailers and Independent Instructors combined (actual was +.5% increase for retailers, and -4.5% decrease for independent instructors).
  4. Dive Travel Sales were up 5.6% specifically for Retailers.
  5. Dive Equipment sales were up 11.3% specifically for Retailers.
  6. 84.2% of the retailer respondents were from the USA.
  7. 94.7% of the retailer respondents were the facility owner or manager.
Each business category responded as follows for their Gross Income Change in the 1st Quarter of 2007 versus the same period in 2006 (for categories over 10 respondents):

Business Classification
1st Q '07 Gross Inc.
% Change
 Number Reporting
Dive Retailers
+14.8%
 96
Independent Dive Instructors
-1.8%
 51
Dive Resort or Resort-Based Dive Operators
+9.0%
 20
Other Industry Professionals
-1.3%
 22
All Averaged/Total Respondents
+10.1%*
 223*

* Weighted average for all categories is actually +7.7%. Above overall reported averages are adjusted averages for all business classifications, including those that were too small in number to include in this above table. Total number of businesses and reported overall average includes categories too low to calculate accurate category averages, but their responses were applied to the overall averages and totals.

The following Businesses Responded to this survey:

Business Classification
Total Respondents
% of Whole
Dive Retailers
96
43.1%
Independent Dive Instructors
51
22.8%
Dive Resort or Resort-Based Dive Operators
20
9.0%
Dive Wholesaler/Agent or US Booking Office
 7
 3.1%
Dive Related Manufacturers
10
4.5%
Dive Liveaboard Boat or Charter Boat
 5
 2.2%
Dive Related Media, Publication, Website
 8
 3.6%
Dive Training Agency
 4
 1.8%
Other Industry Professionals
22
9.9%
Total Respondents
223
100%


> Dive Retailers and Independent Instructors residing in the Pacific Time Zone responded with the lowest increase in Gross Revenues for the 1st Quarter of 2007. While Dive Retailers and Independent Instructors living in the Central Time Zone posted the highest Gross increases as shown:

Retailers & Instructors
Time Zone
Gross
Revenues
 New
Certifications
 Travel
Revenues
 Equipment
Revenues
Mountain Time Zone (USA)
6.0%
 4.8%
 4.8%
 10.9%
Eastern Time Zone (USA)
7.6%
 1.0%
 4.8%
 3.9%
Central Time Zone (USA)
14.4%
 -5.1%
 1.2%
 17.4%
Pacific Time Zone (USA)
.6%
 -13.5%
 3.9%
 -2.1%

> On the whole, 56.1% of all the businesses responded that they expect their Gross Revenues increase as shown:

All Businesses Forecast
2nd Q
Increase
 2nd Q
Decrease
 2nd Q
Same
Gross Revenues
56.1%
 19.3%
 14.8%
Dive Certification Numbers
38.1%
 18.8%
 18.4%
Dive Travel Revenues
23.8%
 13.0%
 24.2%
Equipment Sales Revenues
36.8%
 13.9%
 15.7%

Dear William Cline,
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Best Regards,
William Cline
President
Cline Group Advertising & Marketing, Est. 1990.

The Diving Industry's Only Marketing, Advertising and Research Firm with 15 years of marketing diving worldwide. Visit us on line at http://www.WilliamCline.com

-----
Cline Group: 1740 Air Park Lane • Plano, TX 75093 • 972-267-6700 • www.WilliamCline.com

All data and text (c) 2007 William Cline/Cline Group, Inc.
Reprint Rights are Given as Long As this Above Source is credited.