Thursday 22 January 2009

BSAC Hellas

London, 19th December 2008: On 6th December 2008 the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) and Britannic S.A. signed a five-year agreement at the annual BSAC Diving Officer’s Conference in London, whereby Britannic S.A. will act for and on behalf of BSAC International in Greece for a period of five years.

Signing on behalf of BSAC, Clare Peddie (BSAC Chair) and Deric Ellerby (BSAC International Executive Director), have undertaken to provide diving instructors designated by Britannic S.A. with the necessary training of BSAC methods and techniques to establish BSAC diver and instructor training systems in Greece. BSAC is already the largest diving club in the world and is currently the governing body for underwater activities in the United Kingdom. The organisation has already established diving programmes that are tailored both to the safe enjoyment of diving in the UK and throughout the world.

BSAC operates its overseas licensing through BSAC International, and for the duration of the licence BSAC International will authorise Britannic S.A. to carry out any and all BSAC dive training and certification in Greece, either directly by Britannic S.A. or through sub-licensed dive centres. All of the activities will be working under the jurisdiction of BSAC Greece, a division of Britannic S.A. BSAC International will also provide their services exclusively to Britannic S.A., subject to the terms of the Agreement, to include training in BSAC instruction and operation methods for Britannic S.A.

The recreational diving market in Greece comprises both Greek resident nationals and inbound tourists. The inbound tourists may take the opportunity to start diver training whilst in Greece or may already have commenced diver training elsewhere, but in all cases BSAC training and certification in Greece will be subject to the terms of the licence.

Egypt's CDWS

The Chamber of Diving and Watersports was founded by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism in 2007 with a goal to improve quality, safety and standard of services in the diving and watersports industry, as well as to preserve unique environment of the Red Sea.
All diving centres and safari boats will meet ISO standards EN 14467 / ISO 24803 for diving by 2009 as agreed with Egypt’s CDWS, the Austrian Institute of Norms and the European Underwater Federation.

Elections in November 2008 selected a new board which will be in place for three years. All board members are key figures in the diving and watersports industries:

Chairman
Hesham Gabr Ali

Vice Chairman
Hamed AbdAllah

Treasurer
Amr Abou ElSood

Board Members
Amr Aly Osmaan, Dr. Omar Adly Abdel Aziz, Eng.Zeyad Mamdooh ElBassel, Mostafa Farouk Hanafy, Essam Mohamed Hassan Eid, Asharf Ahmed Saleh, Mahmoud Abdel Hadi Hassan Gad, Sherif Boushra Ebeid, Volker Clausen

Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Watersports this week launched it's new website www.cdws.travel
The site provides a wealth of information to those interested in Diving and Watersports in Egypt including destination information specific to each activity, live weather information, maps and wreck data and history provided by Red Sea wreck expert and author Ned Middleton (this section going live early February).
Most importantly the site features an up to date list of diving centres who have met the criteria of European Norm EN 14467/ISO 24803 for Recreational Diving Services. So far 120 Red Sea Diving Centres are listed as having received their ISO certification with more centres being added each week.
The site will continue to develop over the coming months to include more news, information, galleries and a 'Members Only' area for CDWS members who will be able to access information specific to their industry.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Regional Managers

Ever wondered about the function and role of an agency's Regional Manager? I recently came across a vacancy advertising the post for one of the leading scuba agencies.

The Regional Manager is required to live and operate within a specific region and be able to travel to the agency's regional office as required.

Summary

The Regional Manager is responsible for meeting or exceeding the prescribed sales goals for their region.
The strategies for accomplishing this include, presenting and selling the agency's products and programs during store visits, member meetings and telephone calls. Additionally, they provide members in the region with sales and training consultation, customer service and education. The Regional Manager may also represent the agency before local governments, tourist and recreation bureaus, and other official agencies.

Essential duties and responsabilities include the following (additional duties may also be assigned).

Achieve prescribed merchandise and certification sales goals for their region.
Direct involvement in the development and implementation of product promotions and campaigns.
Promote agency's system and philosophy.
Provide customer service to the current membership.
Promote and sell agency's products to retailers during store visits and consumer contact.
Function as instructional specialist in consultation/seminars with agency's members.
Maintain regular contact with service providers through a combination of store and resort visits, phone calls and email.
Trip reporting and customer relationship management.
Provide public relations for agency as needed.

Competitive Acquisition:

Identify potential stores/resorts & develop strategies to aggressively acquire them.
Work in conjunction with the head office to maintain and exceed new membership goals.
Promote the agency's stores and resorts national promotions.
Represent the agency before governments and official agencies as needed.
Review agency's website weekly to gain knowledge of activities.
Keeping abreast of company programs and activities by daily reviewing agency's Intranet (subject to connectivity).
Actively participate in follow up programs associated with the agency's programs, including Management Training Workshop and Continuing Education Workshops. This includes, but is not limited to, telephone (or other) communications with participants to discuss progress of workshop agreement action items, appropriate follow up, and recording of communication and follow up.
Maintain sales history data on their corparate laptop's hard drive for 3 years.

Perform necessary paperwork functions, including:

Calendar year's proposed activities itinerary & budget (due 30 days prior to Budget due date).
Trip Status Report (within 3 working days of store visit unless in remote area with no connectivity).
Know how many competitive stores are in the region and be able to report on them when needed. Competitive information should focus on but not be limited to other agencies worldwide.
Expense Report (monthly).
Competitive Report (monthly).
Seminar Income/Expense Report (immediately following programs).
Submit annual itinerary – update throughout the year as necessary.

Education and experience

Some relevant tertiary qualifications preferred.
Extensive dive store retail experience (management/ownership preferred).
Experience as an outside Sales Representative preferred.
Experience in International business.

Certificates, Licenses & registrations:

Course Director qualification is required.
Valid driving license.

Other skills and abilities

Strong commitment to serve the goals and direction of the agency's region.
Strong working knowledge of implementing agencies educational programs into retail dive stores.
Political astuteness.
Good public speaking abilities.
Ability to function effectively in non-structured situation.
Excellent organization and administrative skills.
Strong business writing skills.
Self Starter.
Computer skills including Web browsers, e-Letters, Microsoft software, Hand Held PC's, Laptops, wireless communications technology.