Scout - 8/10/2008 9:59 PM
Greg - There are dozens of competent tour organizers who plan excellent dive trips, and several are members of DiveBuddy.com. The best don’t need any marketing support because their trips are booked up before they are even finalized. These are the ones worth reporting, because they show where the real value is - where demand exceeds supply.
We get marketing e-mails from plenty of operators. Most are grossly overpriced and loaded with friends of the sponsors getting a free ride. I see no reason to help these groups (standard advertising package). A couple a month are really interesting - mostly people looking to make a breakpoint on a villa or fill a private plane. These trips are worth passing on to DiveBuddy.com members.
Using the model of the "Hamptons Share," where nobody gets a free ride, ambitious DiveBuddy.com members willing to post a prospectus should get our support. I’d be happy to join a group that will take down a 10-person villa in Bonaire for a week in January using the introductory Delta $239 rate. If it was restricted to DiveBuddy.com members, I might even volunteer to put the trip together myself.
Best regards -
Scout
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