The Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) has told dive centres across the Middle East and Africa they must exclusively provide PADI dive training programmes if they wish to maintain their PADI Membership.
PADI EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) told its members that – as of 2024 – their membership will no longer be accepted if they continue to provide courses from other training agencies, such as SSI, SDI and RAID.
The move by PADI to prohibit dive centres from offering training courses from multiple agencies is not new, and has previously been rolled out in other locations, with varying responses from the dive businesses involved.
The argument for the ban is – in part – a result of operators appealing to prospective customers by displaying PADI branding outside their dive centres and across their websites, before selling lower-priced options offered by other agencies once a potential student enquires.
A statement released by PADI says that ‘[the] strategic change was made after careful consideration and with the interests of the PADI membership at the heart of the decision. We have already successfully rolled out this strategy in a number of other key EMEA regions.
‘Ultimately, by having only 100% PADI centres, PADI will be strongly positioned to provide the best possible business, training and marketing support and resources to our membership, while protecting the PADI brand.’
The new single-brand requirement applies to all dive centres across the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean. A quick check of some of the big-name operators in the popular Egyptian tourist resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada shows a mixture of results, with some deciding to retain their PADI memberships, and others switching entirely to SSI.
PADI says that dive centres will still be able to certify PADI divers – but will not be accepted as full members of the training agency – and exceptions will be made for technical diving organisations which provide training beyond the current standards of the programmes offered by PADI.
