Our Clients

Young Strategies has worked with over 100 destinations in 27 states since 2004.
Check out some of our recent destinations and what they have to say about our research and planning.
Montgomery AL

Montgomery AL

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Tupelo MS

Tupelo MS

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Jamesville Balloonfest: credit Wainwright Photography

Syracuse NY

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Berkeley Young

President / Owner

30 years


Berkeley’s experience includes serving as the Executive Director of a start-up convention and visitor’s bureau and a director of a chamber of commerce in which he oversaw the creation and success of a research-based tourism marketing program for a rural county in the mountains of North Carolina. Young was hired as Director of Sales and quickly promoted to General Manager of a large golf resort managed by Interstate Hotels Corporation. Young joined Randall Travel Marketing in 1998 as Vice President conducting research for DMOs throughout the United States. He opened Young Strategies in November 2004 focusing on strategic planning and research for destination marketing organizations. Young is a top rated speaker at regional and national conferences.

As the Young Strategies team leader Berkeley Young will serve as your primary client contact and chief strategist. Young’s experience as an hotelier uniquely qualifies him to provide lodging market analyses for destinations. The research methodology will be tailored to the unique needs of each client destination and actionable strategies will be developed from the resulting data and community leader input. Young is known for his team building, active listening and thoughtful consideration when developing a plan for a community.

Amy Stevens

VP Research Director

20 years


Amy is an avid traveler who was destined to find her calling in the travel and tourism industry. With 25+ years of travel, tourism and marketing experience, her ability to multi-task serves her well as Vice President/Research Director. She is responsible for all aspects of destination research, client interface and project management for Young Strategies. Due to Amy’s considerate nature, Berkeley also fondly refers to her as Vice President of Thoughtfulness & Caring. Outside of the office, Amy most enjoys traveling with her family and friends, hanging out on Lake Norman and entertaining anyone who drops in.

McKenzie Graham

Office Manager/Research Coordinator

3 years


A University of South Carolina graduate, McKenzie has been with Young Strategies since 2014 as Office Manager and Research Coordinator. McKenzie specializes in running the office, data analysis, compilation and report development. When McKenzie is not glued to her computer screen tabulating data, she coaches the varsity girls’ basketball team at the local high school, enjoys spending time on Lake Norman, and is currently working on not being the worst golfer in her league.

Madelyn Matlock

Research Assistant

1 year


A graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Madelyn worked for a manufacturing exporter conducting market, consumer, and competitive reviews and then joined their office in mainland China. At Young Strategies, Madelyn is primarily responsible for lodging survey and visitor profile data collection, compilation, and report development. She has become an expert at sorting through thousands of survey responses to open ended questions to find the trends. Outside of work, Madelyn enjoys traveling, photography, and is an avid sports fan.

Our Strategic Partners

Larry Gustke PhD.

Destination Analytics

Steve Powell

Destination Services

Alexa Gifford

Planning Consultant

Judy L. Randall

Planning Consultant

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