Montgomery Alabama

I was hired by the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce in December of 2001, as the vice president of its Convention and Visitor Bureau. I had heard Berkeley teach at Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College and I knew I wanted to work with his team to help us define the CVB’s focus to insure our biggest return on investment.

I fought to bring in what I understood was a true research driven study. Fifteen years later I am pleased to say we are still a client of Young Strategies. We have updated our research every three to five years to make sure we are going in the right direction as a travel destination. As a result of the research we have been successful in increasing our funding from both the city and the county and our markets have continued to grow. Our elected officials know Berkeley is going to tell it like it is and not sugarcoat the data. Our leadership has the utmost respect for Young Strategies team and we all know if there is a problem or an opportunity we can count on them to help advise us through it in a way that benefits us all.

Dawn Hathcock, TMP
Vice President
Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce
Convention & Visitor Bureau

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Tupelo Mississippi

We have worked with Young Strategies Group since late 2010. Once I took the position of executive director in June of 2010 I knew I needed a detailed strategic plan rooted in research to set a path for success for our organization. We asked Berkeley and his team to come in analyze visitors to our market, existing staff’s time and resources spent on their respective markets and analyze hotel data specific to our destination. Once we compiled that information, we established a 10 year strategic plan that is still the foundational document used today to guide our budgetary and day-to-day decisions made in our office. We are currently editing a second round of data that will allow us to adjust our sails to keep us moving forward in the most efficient and effective way possible. Since enlisting the services of Young Strategies our tourism tax collection has increased from $3.4 million in 2011 to over $4 million in 2015. We are currently on pace for solid annual growth.

We are all about results in Tupelo and Young Strategies has provided the results we were looking for by increasing visitor spending in our market. Berkeley has credibility in our community because he has delivered on the promises he made in the beginning of telling us the truth and not sugar coating something just to keep a client. He and his team are responsive to our needs and that was important to me because I didn’t want to use a research consultant that would allow me to get lost in the shuffle with other clients that are bigger destinations. We continue to work with Young Strategies to track our growth & plan for future successes.

I highly recommend Young Strategies because they have delivered proven results for Tupelo.

Neal McCoy,
Exexutive Director
Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau

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Syracuse NY

Young Strategies is an incredible strategic planning consultant, especially for an emerging destination. The Young Strategies team takes a segmented approach to destination research and planning. The end result of Young Strategies work will be a strategic direction that focuses your destination marketing organization, connects it to the business community and points it toward a successful future that delivers enormous return on investment. You can’t go wrong with Young Strategies.

David Holder,
President
Visit Syracuse

• Photography: Jamesville Balloonfest - credit Wainwright Photography

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