For decades, the dive travel industry has leaned on discounts to fill cabins and rooms. Early-bird deals, last-minute specials, and promo codes became the default language of loyalty. But as guests become savvier travellers, these tactics are showing their limits. Price can spark a booking, yet it rarely creates a lasting bond.
Today’s guests are looking for something different: recognition. They want to feel remembered, valued, and part of a community—not just another line in a reservations spreadsheet.
The Challenge: Discount Fatigue
Discount-driven marketing works in the short term, but it comes with hidden costs. Operators who compete primarily on price risk eroding margins and undervaluing their experiences. Worse, guests may grow to expect every trip at a reduced rate, turning loyalty into dependency on the next “special.”
With travel costs on the rise, this approach is no longer sustainable. To thrive, operators must move beyond price-based incentives.
The Shift: Recognition Over Rebates
What guests increasingly value is not a percentage off their next trip, but a sense of being seen. That recognition can take many forms:
- A personal note acknowledging a return visit
- Recognition of milestones, like a 10th stay or 500th logged dive
- Early access to trip announcements or preferred cabin selections
- Exclusive content that extends the experience beyond the journey itself
These gestures cost less than constant discounts yet create a stronger emotional connection. Recognition makes guests feel that their relationship with an operator is valued, not transactional.
Lessons from Hotels and Airlines
The hotel and airline industries have long embraced recognition-based loyalty. While points and rewards remain part of the system, the real draw is status recognition: priority boarding, lounge access, complimentary upgrades, or being greeted by name.
These perks create a sense of belonging that far outweighs a discount. The dive industry has been slower to adopt this approach, often because operators work independently without shared systems. That is starting to change.
A Growing Opportunity for Dive Operators
Imagine a guest who books a liveaboard trip in Indonesia, then stays at a dive resort in the Philippines. If both are part of the same recognition network, the guest’s loyalty travels with them. Their preferences, history, and status are already understood—no need to start over.
That is the future of dive travel loyalty: recognition that is portable, personal, and seamless across platforms.
Case in Point: Solitude 3SIXTY
Solitude World has introduced 3SIXTY, an integrated CRM and loyalty ecosystem designed for both guests and operators. Instead of focusing on discounts, 3SIXTY offers recognition tiers, personalised communications, and shared value across liveaboards and resorts.
- For guests: recognition carries with them, wherever their next journey leads.
- For operators: tools to understand guest behaviour, improve retention, and reduce reliance on discounts.
It’s a system that creates lasting loyalty built on relationships, not rebates.
Why This Matters Now
The dive travel industry is at a crossroads. Travel is rebounding, demand is growing, and guests are more connected than ever. But expectations have shifted. Competing on discounts alone is a race to the bottom. Competing on recognition builds loyalty that lasts.
With 2026 on the horizon, operators have an opportunity to rethink what loyalty means. The most successful will be those who stop asking, “How much can we take off the price?” and start asking, “How can we make our guests feel recognised?”