Do current dive instructor courses offer too narrow a focus? Naturally, the core skills of a dive instructor must reflect their role of dive course instruction, yet an instructor must work in a dive centre or dive resort as very few dive instructors work independently. Do professional level courses need a greater retail sales and retail management focus?

The focus of the dive centre is equipment sales, supplemented by dive trips, starting with day trips and then onto moving to dive travel. Yes, dive courses need to make money but dive courses produce the divers to purchase equipment and dive experiences. Some dive centres have been known to just break even to produce the divers to purchase equipment from their retail facilities.

Dive centres frequently offer cheap air fills just to get certified divers through the door. Alternately, the focus of the dive resort is day trips, supplemented by dive courses and some minor equipment sales. Regardless, the dive instructor must on-sell dive courses, dive equipment and dive experiences or there is no business – there had better be retail training otherwise customers walk straight out the door and to your competitors.