Customer Testimonials
... and Kind Words from Industry Leaders
I’ve known Lynn since our days working together in Florida’s tourism industry. Lynn has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in tourism marketing and we – as well our visitors – are better for her expertise and leadership.
Wit Tuttell, Executive Director
Visit North Carolina
The scope of our project was simple: update our website. When our committee came to the table, we had preconceived ideas of what we wanted the site to achieve. During the discovery process, it became apparent to Flying Compass that the focus needed to shift to achieve those goals. With their guidance, the new website is better than we could have imagined. They’ve continued to play a role in shaping our organization’s future. We are so appreciative of their willingness to help us move forward.
Jayne Baker, President
South Carolina Nature-Based Tourism Association
It has been amazing working with Flying Compass. No matter which project – a destination management organization, a festival or starting a new business endeavor – I can honestly say they brought new insights to the table that I hadn’t considered. They listened and took the time to understand each project. Their ability to quickly grasp a situation and how it could be resolved made my life and work much stronger. Their leadership in walking me through each project is short of amazing. I have worked with many others in my career. Flying Compass is the ONLY answer to your needs!
John Banks, Owner
Corley Mills House & Gardens,
Historic Columbia Speedway Marketing Director
Tartan Day South, Event Organizer
When we first began talking with Flying Compass, our owner wanted to give our current vendor a chance to resolve some lingering issues. After meeting with Steve and Lynn, it became apparent that even though they weren’t divers, they understood our needs – especially those unique to our international tour operation.
We were on the road between trade shows when they made their final presentation. While I’d hoped to wait until we were back in the office, the owner said, “They know what we need. Let them get started.”
I’ve enjoyed working with Flying Compass. They take an all-encompassing approach and look several steps forward with everything they do. This has allowed us to add countries/vessels to our fleet effortlessly. They can readily answer our questions and are more than willing to research a topic on the rare occasion they are unfamiliar with and then share the details. It’s wonderful to work with a company that lives by our customer service philosophy.
Kevin Purdy, CEO
All Star Liveaboards
It’s been my pleasure to work with Flying Compass on numerous destination and resort projects. How do you describe a hospitality marketing firm that just gets it? … that asks the right questions at the right time … that makes sure that their client looks good at every turn … that can develop a brand’s personality that can be adapted across the board … that understands production and technology … that is the ray of sunshine at the end of a long day and says ‘no problem’ when you have a great opportunity with a short deadline … that’s Flying Compass. They came through every time.
Maureen Morgenthien, Deputy Director, Sales & Marketing
Emerald Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau – Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa Island, Florida
We’re a family-owned and operated restaurant, shoppe and 30-room inn and have been working with Flying Compass since the late 1980s.
Thanks to their research, we found that our restaurant is the oldest operating beach pavilion in the Southeast U.S. They recommended we position ourselves as a landmark attraction where the locals hang out. It has been a huge success. Flying Compass moved us into the digital age and now also works with third-generation family members with respect to social media, our online store and customer engagement. As a single location, they helped us garner highly sought “Best of” honors – Best Grouper, Best Sunset Spot, Best Beach Bar and Best Live Music. We’ve parlayed this further, resulting in new and repeat customers.
As with any independent property, we’ve had challenges standing above the rest. Flying Compass has pushed us to regularly engage our existing customers in good times and bad, supported the use of an online booking system and worked with us to take advantage of TripAdvisor. Currently, we rank #4 out of 89 properties in Clearwater and Clearwater Beach. Our destination was TripAdvisor’s #1 Beach in America two years in a row. With Flying Compass’ assistance, our inn also reached for the stars and was honored this year with a “Best of” award – the Best Boutique Hotel. We’re reaping the rewards with increased occupancy.
Through Flying Compass, we have developed an exceptional relationship with the CVB. It is our pleasure to host FAM trips and introduce the world to our Old Florida experience.
We highly recommend Flying Compass to anyone who is looking for experts in tourism marketing.
Ken Hamilton
Palm Pavilion and Palm Pavilion Inn, Clearwater Beach
If anyone tells you it can’t be done, reach out to Flying Compass. They’ll find a creative way to make it happen. The CVBs in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad are better for having had them on our team. Their approach considers everyone involved – large and small – and the result is fair and reasonable to all DMO-sized budgets.
At the Twin City Quarter, we positioned ourselves as a downtown destination within the city. Flying Compass fully understood how to sell us with our two brand hotels, restaurants, spa and salon, meeting facilities and convention center, as well as downtown restaurants and nearby attractions. With all the various partners and relationships involved, I never had to worry about Flying Compass. They understood how it all fit together and were always in our corner looking out for us as well as the overall destination.
Ron Stephens
Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Area Director of Sales & Marketing
Winston-Salem’s Twin City Quarter, Director of Sales & Marketing
High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau, Vice President of Marketing & Sales
The phrase the whole package refers to Flying Compass. Our CVB initially brought them in to keep a department afloat while we took a closer look at this area’s role within our organization. Because of their destination marketing background, their insights and recommendations gave us exactly what we needed. We extended their contract allowing them to implement their proposal. The result was a re-engineered department, established processes and collateral materials truly representative of the destination – ad schedules, concepts and co-ops, visitor guides with accompanying rack brochures, group and meeting sales tools, a full media kit and an expertly designed, user friendly content management website.
Their big picture perspective not only took into consideration the CVB’s needs but those of our local hospitality industry, and most importantly, our visitors and meeting clients. It’s rare to find a creative team that comes to the table with this type of comprehension from day one.
Carmen Caruth, Executive Vice President
Winston-Salem Convention and Visitors Bureau, North Carolina
The Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce’s relationship with Flying Compass spanned over 22 years, beginning with a single publication. With that publication, the chamber learned it no longer needed to outsource these types of print publications (Visitor’s Guides, Relocation Guides, Entertainment Guide). Flying Compass gave us creative control and stepped up Clearwater’s visibility among Florida beaches resulting in multiple awards over the years.
Flying Compass is unique in that they understand how membership organizations in general, and the hospitality industry in particular, operate. The savings to the Chamber were significant, and the profits we generated through the publications were sizable. If I hadn’t retired, I have no doubt that we would’ve been working with Flying Compass still. They are that good.
Ebe Bower, Vice President Tourism
Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, Clearwater, Florida
Flying Compass has been my go-to team for many years because they are consistently creative, honest and reliable, on top of the newest technology. Equally important is its reasonable pricing and standing by its commitments, including deadlines. They’re adept at small projects but have also tackled multiple database-driven websites, some in multiple languages.
Perhaps their real genius and why our relationship has been consistently successful is their ability to listen and understand our objectives and then help develop the creative strategies to achieve our goals. It is my pleasure to recommend Flying Compass to potential clients, big and small, looking for a partner with integrity, imagination and a solid understanding of their business.
Francis Purvey, Executive Vice President
Sunlark Associates
Former Director of Sales & Marketing Radisson Aruba and Radisson St. Martin
To learn more about our coaching, project management and product development services, contact Flying Compass today.