Come April 2013, Original Diving, which started life as Dive in Style, will be three years old. With over a third of UK businesses failing in their first three years, we are proud to still be here (though April is a few months away…) and are looking to 2013 with excitement.

So what were the highlights this year and what's to come?

Exciting New Destinations

This year has been a good year from a travel perspective and (with no smugness intended) we have been to some very special places. I made it to Fiji and Azores; Louisa spent a ridiculous amount of time out of the office in the Philippines and Micronesia (and Malta!); and company founder Tim was in Raja Ampat, Java and Sulawesi. Not to mention various beautiful boats and hotels visited by members of the wider Original Travel team.

Where to Next?

We sat down in a room with a map of the world the other day to plan where we think would be exciting for our clients. The list is pretty long but some highlights and things to watch out for next year include hammerheads in the Bahamas and Sudan, remote liveaboards in Burma, world-class shore diving in East Timor… the list goes on. We may not get to them all but we will try so watch this space.

And the Company?

2012 has been a very good year. We did better than planned although the Olympics and a range of other factors mean we are left wanting more! And in 2013 we plan to get it. Some really exciting marketing efforts are in store, new destinations and new products (like our Expert-Led Journeys). So all in all we couldn't be more excited by what the next 12 months have in store.

Successful Rebranding as Original Diving

In February this year, with the launch of our new and improved website, we became Original Diving. Diving in Style, and luxury diving destinations remain a large part of what we do but now we offer a broader mix of hotels and destinations, some of which cannot be considered stylish (Papua New Guinea anyone?) but which nonetheless offer something special for divers.