The Professional Association of Diving Instructors announced this week that it now owns Bonnier Corporation’s network of dive media brands, including Scuba Diving magazine, scubadiving.com, Sport Diver magazine, sportdiver.com and Skin Diver magazine.
As part of the organization’s forthcoming PADI Club, diver members will receive access to a multimedia diving platform, including Scuba Diving magazine and its popular ScubaLab Gear Guide and World’s Best special issues. This benefit is part of a larger package that offers online dive logging, community connections and discounts on PADI eLearning courses, PADI Travel trips and branded merchandise.
PADI says its Retail, Resort and Professional Members will all benefit from this synergy, as will other industry stakeholders.
According to Drew Richardson, President and CEO of PADI Worldwide:
“Our investment in this premier dive media group is a natural progression in PADI’s mission to educate and inspire our dive community. Our relationship with Bonnier Corporation dates back to 1999 and, in that time, we’ve developed a unique bond built on trust, integrity and the empowerment of divers to be ambassadors for our blue planet. We are thrilled to welcome the Bonnier Dive Media Group into the PADI family to amplify exposure to engaging content dedicated to diving.”
Richardson added that the past few years had seen a consolidation of dive media, particularly in the United States.
“By elevating first-rate, multimedia content created to inform, engage and excite divers, we can provide people with the resources and inspiration to stay active divers for life.”
Eric Zinczenko, CEO of Bonnier Corporation, said:
“For over two decades, it’s been our privilege to serve dive enthusiasts worldwide by producing world class content and multimedia experiences to inspire their involvement in this great recreational activity. We are thrilled to pass the legacy of these brands onto PADI and we couldn’t be more pleased their future is now with an organization dedicated to this enthusiast community. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to our Bonnier employees who worked tirelessly on these brands over the years.”