Ask companies in the diving industry to say how their year is going so far, and the answer's a mixed bag. It's that, or many are answering with caution. So how are we doing post-recession? There are few gauges in the diving industry and with the recession's effects supposedly subsiding, and since diving is mostly a discretionary activity (in other words among the first to feel a recession and the last out), it would be nice to know where we stand.

The important industry measure is retail activity, and you can practically see the recession in the year-over-year results of this survey. Recession officially began at the end of 2007, ended late in 2009, and the economy started climbing out of it in 2010. Continuing improvement appears to be mirrored in the results of this mid-year survey, certainly considered alongside the results of the previous few years.

Retailers are still apprehensive about the economy and our recovery will continue as consumer confidence grows. According to these results things are improving. This survey will be conducted again in its normal timeframe at the end of the year.

The Survey:

How has this year been so far for retailers and what is the mood for the rest of the year? This survey, in its ninth year, is an attempt to define, for retailers and for the industry, how retail evaluates its business. Typically conducted as a year-end survey, these mid-year results are stated alongside of the surveys that go back through the recession to show the trends. This was a combination fax/email survey to dive retailers. A total of 1,115 surveys were successfully transmitted. A total of 426 dive centers -- or 38 percent of those -- responded. Survey period -- early July 2011

The Results:

Among the results, 47 percent of the responding stores rate their business as good to excellent this year, compared with 34 percent at the end of 2010 and 26 percent in 2009. The number was 51 percent in 2007, just before the recession.

Among the results, 16 percent of the stores rate their business as poor this year compared with 26 percent at the end of 2010 and 35 percent in 2009. This year has the same percentage of stores that rated their business as poor in 2007, just before the recession.

A revealing result in this survey, and in a statistic not shown here, training sales are down in 85 percent of the stores who report doing poorly, but down in just 12 percent of the stores who say their business is good. This suggests placing a primary emphasis on marketing for both open water and continuing education.

Following are the results of this mid-year survey. Our sincere thanks to the stores that took the time to respond.