Agents eager to learn about dive travel will find that tourist
boards and dive suppliers offer various resources and programs to
encourage their doing so. Following is a sampling of agent programs
currently available.
Two departures remain in 1998 on a series of Curacao dive fams
offered by the Curacao Tourism Development Bureau. The trips
include complimentary accommodations at one of six dive resorts,
daily breakfast and diving. The dive fams are scheduled for Sept.
17 to 21 and Dec. 3 to 7. Call the Curacao Tourist Board in New
York at (800) 270-3350.
The Underwater Explorers Society, a dive operator on Grand
Bahama Island, is offering an agent rate of $75 on its
learn-to-dive certification program, normally priced at $425.
Barbachano Tours, a dive wholesaler based in Miami, offers an
agent rate of $33 per person, nightly, at Club Cozumel Caribe, a
moderately priced all-inclusive resort that caters to divers.
Barbachano Tours pays commissions of 12% to 15%.
Maduro Dive Fanta-Seas in Miami maintains an independent fam
trip policy for agents at two Caribbean properties it represents:
Captain Don's Habitat on Bonaire and Habitat Curacao. In Bonaire,
the agent rate for three nights is $226 for one or two people; the
price in Curacao is $251.
Ocean Connection in Friendswood, Texas, is planning a Central
American familiarization trip this fall that combines two popular
dive destinations. The itinerary incorporates two nights in Belize
and two nights in Roatan. Dates were not finalized at press time.
Ocean Connection pays commissions of 11% to 13%.
Waters Edge Scuba & Adventure Specialists, a Denver
wholesaler, will boost commission levels to 12% for agencies with
whom it establishes an exclusive contract. The firm operates fam
trips to northeast Brazil twice a year. The next one is tentatively
slated for October.
Twice a year, the Jamaica Tourist Board hosts reasonably priced
dive fam trips that include air travel, meals, two dives daily and
transfers. Call the Jamaica Tourist Board in Miami at (800)
233-4582 or (305) 665-0557.
Several suppliers have put together literature designed to help
agents learn the basics of selling dive travel. Among firms
offering such literature is Red Sail Sports (800-255-6425), which
has dive operations on Aruba, Grand Cayman and Hawaii's Big Island
and Rothschild Dive Safaris, a dive wholesaler based in New
York.
Peter Hughes Diving in Coral Gables, Fla., a specialist in
live-aboard dive trips in the Caribbean, Central America, the
Pacific and the Red Sea, offers an agent rate of $500 for its
weeklong live-aboard trips in the Caribbean and Central
America.
International Diving Expeditions in Murrieta, Calif., operates
three to four familiarization trips annually for agents. This fall,
trips are planned to the Red Sea in September as well as Malaysia
and the Galapagos in October.