Testimonials

a reflection of my work

I am pleased to recommend Dana Toma and recognize her contributions to Kensington Tours during her tenure with the Company. Dana’s work touched multiple areas of the organization including sales, operations, product development, and procurement including vendor management and contracting. She demonstrated an ability to connect the Company’s strategic direction with practical execution, improving processes and strengthening supplier partnerships. Dana brought energy, dedication, and a collaborative approach to her work. She was proactive in identifying opportunities, provided additional support when needed, and contributed to building a strong team culture while also strengthening external partnerships. An important employee during Kensington’s rapid growth, her contributions were recognized both internally and by our external partners, culminating in being awarded the Company’s Top Performer in Procurement award in 2018. Dana is a driven professional who brings commitment, strategic thinking, and a strong sense of ownership to her work. I appreciate the contributions she made to Kensington Tours, and especially to procurement division where we worked closely together.

John Hiscock
Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, Range, TravelEdge and Kensington Tours

Working with Dana was one of the best decisions I have made. She has been instrumental in helping me develop a clearer idea of what my business could be in the coming years, how my role in the business should evolve, and how in practical business terms to go about realizing this new vision. She combines many years of firsthand operational experience across multiple functions with excellent knowledge of business and growth strategy, and is a skilled and effective business coach. My time with her has been transformative for my business and for my day-to-day role in my company. With her help, I was able to develop a multi-year perspective on my business, create multi-year projections and growth plans, and start taking important steps towards moving myself into a position of working “on” my business instead of “in” my business. Dana brought positive energy and a positive vision to all of our meetings. She also conducted meetings with my leadership team which was very beneficial in helping them understand and perform their roles. She has a deep background in travel across multiple companies that makes her invaluable in analyzing any type of issue related to the travel industry and also has training in Six Sigma and general business processes that would be valuable in many other industries. She has been a pleasure to work with: smart, professional, disciplined, insightful, energizing, and fun. I highly recommend her for anyone looking for a business coach or business consultant.

James Lutz
Founder/President, Vaya Adventures

I am happy to recommend Dana for her contributions to Arctic Kingdom’s private journey experience development. Dana played a pivotal role in creating innovative tourism experiences for Alaska, Iceland and Svalbard together with our partners to a successful launch. Dana is a strategic thinker with background and experience developing experiential experiences. Her passion, leadership, and dedication to excellence makes her a valuable asset to any organization in the tourism industry.

Graham Dickson
President & Chief Expedition Officer, Arctic Kingdom

Dana is an unique individual, a rare find. She manages to blend productivity, professionalism and personality to bring out the best from both parties no matter the role. We first met In her capacity at Kensington Tours being one of the original members of the company. We had extensive involvement in various areas over the years, most of all as Sr Director of Procurement & Partnerships, where Dana proved invaluable to the continued long-lasting relationship. Always transparent and direct but equally pragmatic. Exactly what a partnership should be. We also saw a different side to Dana’s skill set in the dark days of covid, where she offered a series of coaching sessions, yet another professional passion of hers. In hindsight those sessions allowed us the time to think freely from the confines of day to day work in a way we’d never been able to do before. There were certainly seeds planted in those sessions that have germinated and continue to grow to this day, consciously or subconsciously. This is a unique skill to have. Genuine, honest, hardworking, with a willingness to make things work no matter what. I/we are lucky to have Dana as a friend and industry colleague. A true asset.

Anak McSporran
COO at Angela Shanley Associates Ltd

I had the pleasure of working closely with Dana Toma during my time as CFO at Kensington Tours, where Dana served as Director of Global Product Development. Dana brings a rare combination of deep passion for travel as a product, commercial rigor, and a genuinely human approach to leadership and partnership. Dana cared deeply about the integrity of the travel experiences Kensington delivered. She was meticulous about the details that made our product truly unique and memorable, from the way itineraries were crafted to the quality and consistency of vendor relationships on the ground. She balanced an exceptional customer lens with strong commercial acumen, negotiating thoughtfully and fairly with vendors while maintaining a clear and disciplined focus on margin. Her understanding of how product decisions flowed through to financial outcomes made her an invaluable partner to the executive team. What truly sets Dana apart, however, is how she shows up as a colleague and leader. She is tenacious, endlessly curious, and approaches her work with a relationship-first, human-first mindset. Dana genuinely cared about the people she worked with and for, building trust across teams and supporting others with generosity and empathy. She was highly personable, collaborative, and simply a joy to work with. Any organization would be lucky to have Dana shaping their product, partnerships, and culture.

Saeideh Fard
Former CFO, Kensington Tours and TravelEdge

Dana is a fantastic coach to work with. She is caring and listens well when trying to understand where you’re coming from. Once she understands your situation she is direct and straight-to-the-point with her recommendations. I have very much appreciated Dana’s guidance and support.

Andrew R. Brown
Founder and President, Tobuso Management Corp

Dana is one of those people that you can count on to get things done. She is very smart, passionate, and has an amazing drive to execute on her commitments. She was a pleasure to work with and through her great understanding of the travel space, her relationships with her suppliers, as well as her tenacity for execution she made a great impact on the company and our customers.

Guido Romagnoli
Former President, Kensignton Tours

Dana is a passionate leader that can manage multiple tasks while delivering desired results. She is a great motivator of her staff and enjoys taking on new challenges. While working with Dana I could always count on her as part of the senior management team to work diligently at developing and delivering new products for Cruise, South and Central America and North America including specialty events. She was able to develop a sales team and strategy to deliver on sales targets for whatever product she was responsible for. Dana was dedicated to success in whatever she was asked to accomplish and I would highly recommend her.

Phil Sproul
Former President, Kensignton Tours

Dana has an exceptionally deep knowledge of luxury travel experiences around the globe, along with a clear passion for motivating her staff to meet ambitious business targets. She is a highly motivated executive who will go the extra mile to support her colleagues and promote amazing travel experiences.

Emily Baillie
Founder, AI Speaker at Compass Content Marketing

Dana is a true industry professional, her background in operations and product is top tier. I worked with her at Kensington Tours building the Operations department, and continued working closely with her with product and customer care issues. When Dana sets her mind to do something, she does it. Her tenacity is unparalleled. Her contribution to her team leaves a legacy and her leadership is a good mix of empathy, strategy, and drive. Her knowledge of all global regions is outstanding and she hones her skillset continually to keep up with industry trends. She has a passion for coaching and mentoring and is reflective in her roles, and I have always appreciated her listening ear.

Olivia Paszkowski
Former Customar Care Manager at Kensington Tours, Associate Director, Operations North America at GALE

Dana was my first boss at my first “real job” on the Europe sales team at Kensington Tours. I don’t think I ever told her, but I learned a great deal from her about day-to-day organization at work (how many times did she tell me to finish one task before starting the next…) and about communicating effectively with prospects and clients. On top of that, she was always understanding and willing to help, working hard and leading by example. I regret leaving Kensington without gifting her a “World’s Best Boss” coffee mug. A few years ago Dana started offering online coaching courses and I was fortunate to be in one of the early cohorts, which is why I’m posting this recommendation. I’ve seen first-hand how she helps people grow and push beyond their own limits. She’s a true mentor, and I can confidently speak to Dana’s ability to turn her experience into practical, actionable insights that genuinely help others move forward.

Matt Sampalean
Marketing & Product Professional | Lifecycle Strategy, Growth, and Automation

Dana’s passion for travel is only outweighed by her passion for people. She is a fantastic leader and mentor who sees the potential in everyone, even when they don’t see it in themselves. She is great at building and maintaining relationships, not only with suppliers, but also with her team. I particularly appreciate her management style. Dana is a true leader as she will tailor her approach to her team as individuals and not in a one-size-fits-all approach. Dana is an asset to any team she is on and I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to work with her during my travel career.

Julie Hegedus
Corporate Travel & Air Specialist

Dana is a wealth of knowledge and one of the most dedicated and passionate people I know in the travel industry. I had met her during my tenure at Kensington and have kept in touch ever since. Anytime we speak, I am amazed by how many different aspects of the travel business Dana can tackle. From sales to operations to being hands down one of the best product people I have ever seen. She manages to build relationships that last and has crafted entire range of travel products for various companies. If you are looking for someone who is passionate and knowledgeable, look no further.

Rares Dumitru
National Account Manager at Goway Travel

Dana is a passionate and dedicated leader who is committed to excellence. She is organized, detail-oriented and thorough – you can always count on Dana to do an excellent job. She took the time to mentor her staff, including myself – making sure to recognize effort and making time for investing in her team. I would highly recommend Dana!

Amanda Dunning, MBA
Travel Industry Executive | Global Product, Partnerships & Commercial Operations | Future-Focused Leader

Dana was my mentor extraordinaire! Coming into the Cruise Dept. at Kensington I was not very familiar with the niche cruise product they sold, but with her guidance, patience, knowledge sharing and dedication I was able to find my footings and succeed in my role. Today I now work as a Director of Sales for one of the niche cruise products we sold, and a lot of that has to do with Dana. She had faith in me and pushed me to be the best version of myself. She has a positive influence, and is someone I will continue to admire both professionally and personally.

Kristin Erz
Director, Expedition Sales at Silversea Cruises

Working with Dana is so inspiring! She is a passionate, driven individual with such a comprehensive and broad working knowledge of the industry. I enjoyed collaborating with her at Arctic Kingdom while she worked on and developed innovative itineraries and partnerships in Iceland, Alaska, Canada and Svalbard.

Katherine Johnson
Specialist, Market Development – Travel Manitoba

I had the privilege of working alongside Dana during a period of rapid growth at Kensington Tours. Dana was a tenured employee who started from sales and building the Europe department and continuing to hold many roles, bringing in new regions such as North America and cruise. She was a wealth of industry knowledge and a champion for the curated partnerships at Kensington she was truly a wealth of information taking the time to coach new hires and leaders. While she led as Product Director and I was a Regional manager for sales, our collaboration was essential to bridging departments and ensuring strategies translated effectively across markets. Her sharp analytical skills and mentorship consistently pushed me to think more critically and approach partnership building with clarity and confidence. She has a unique ability to balance big-picture vision with practical execution, and I’m grateful for the impact she’s had on my growth.

Theresa Sylvestre
Supervisor for Extraordinary Explorations

I’ve known Dana for several years and have always been impressed by her knowledge of the travel industry and her ability to support businesses through change. She has a great mix of strategic thinking, coaching skills, and practical experience. During my time at Kensington Tours, Dana led product and procurement, showcasing her ability to juggle functions with ease. She brings genuine value to the teams and companies she supports.

Vikas Kalra
Director of Marketing & Revenue at Vaya Adventures