Berkeley W. Young | Patricia Forrest | Dan Lennon | John Hope-Johnstone

Berkeley W. Young, President of Young Strategies, Inc., has 20 years of travel/tourism research, marketing, management and retail experience. Berkeley’s travel industry experience includes serving as the Executive Director of a rural tourism development authority (CVB) and Chamber of Commerce in which he oversaw the creation and success of a research-based tourism marketing program. He was then hired as Director of Sales and promoted to General Manager of a large destination golf resort. He joined Randall Travel Marketing, Inc. (RTM) in 1998 as Director of Client Services and served as Vice President from 2000-2004. At RTM, Berkeley focused on destination research and strategic planning with a wide range of communities. In 2004, he formed his own Charlotte, NC based company focusing on research and strategic planning for all aspects of the travel industry. His firm continues to partner with RTM and specializes in working with city and county governments in the development of local tourism infrastructure, branding and marketing.  In the last nine years, Berkeley has worked with destinations in 26 states and is a popular speaker at regional and national conferences and conventions.

Patricia Forrest is a veteran marketing and communications professional operating a successful communications, conference/event coordination and marketing consultancy in Kakabeka Falls, Ontario. 

Well versed in Northern Ontario tourism issues, she is the author of A Vision for our Region, the Premier Ranked Tourism Destination Process Final Report – North of Superior Tourism Region (2008), the Northern Ontario Tourism Industry Inventory, Survey and Gap Analysis (2008), A Tourism Enhancement Plan for the Red Lake Region (2003) and the Northern Ontario Economuseum® Feasibility Study (2003).  She also co-authored the Marketing Manitoulin report (2009), the Foundation Document for a Five-Year Tourism Strategy for Northern Ontario (2007), Understanding and Attracting the RV Tourism Market to Northern Ontario (2006) and Understanding and Attracting the Motorcycle Tourism Market to Northern Ontario (2006). 

Pat’s career has taken her from Thunder Bay to Sydney, Australia to Halifax, Nova Scotia to the Ottawa region.  Now back in Northern Ontario to stay, her focus is on helping to enhance the economy of this region.

Dan Lennon serves as the Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB).  Working with staff, consultants and community marketing committees, Dan oversees the CVB’s television, radio, print and web advertising, brand development and management, creation and distribution of publications, direct mail programs, website development, communications and media relations.

Prior to joining the Branson Chamber/CVB in December 2003, Dan served as Director of Marketing at the Welk Resort Branson from its opening in 1994 through October 2002 and has provided marketing services to Branson theaters and lodging properties through his own consulting firm.

He is active in the Branson business community as a current or past member of numerous boards of directors, among them the Branson Veterans Task Force, Tri-Lakes Community Theatre, College of the Ozarks Associates, the Branson CVB Marketing Advisory Council, Christian Associates, Ozark Adventures/Elderhostel and the Skaggs Hospital Board of Trustees. In January 2009, Dan was appointed to the Missouri Division of Tourism Cooperative Marketing Advisory Council.

Dan has a B.A. in English Literature and a Masters in Applied Linguistics/Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is currently finishing coursework for his Certified Destination Marketing Executive designation. Dan is also a 2006 graduate of the Leadership Missouri Program of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A member of the singing Lennon Family, he was also co-producer and featured vocalist in the popular Lennon Brothers Swing Music Show at the Welk Resort Theatre in Branson from 1994-2004.

John Hope-Johnstone has been Vice-President of Marketing for Western Canada’s largest travel consortium and a Director of Marketing for Four Seasons Hotels. He rose to become Vice President of Lakeview Development of Canada (Sheraton) and then Vice President of L’Ermitage Hotels in Beverly Hills.

A student of sociology and philosophy, John acts as a synthesizer and reporter, bringing together many disciplines and sources of information for the benefit of businesses and government. His library and writings are extensive.

John has been teaching, speaking and writing about societal shifts and their implications on tourism since the late 1970s and brings that rich history to bear on today’s profound changes. He has just published his second book on tourism marketing, How to Market Tourism in the 21st Century, which can be purchased on Amazon.com or at this Forum.

For the past 12 years, John has been CEO of Corvallis Tourism in Oregon. He has been on the International Board of the Travel and Tourism Research Association and is the Past President of the Oregon Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus and President of the Tourism Industry Council of Oregon.  John is also Chair of the Tourism Research Advisory Council, a bi-state research advisory group for Oregon and Washington and a member of the World Future Society.

John will be dedicating himself full time to his Public Relations and Social Media agency, HRP, starting in November 2009.