Southwind Adventures, a boutique style tour operator specializing in South and Central America, announced recently the addition of Dana Johnson as the new Director of Marketing and Sales. She brings over a decade of adventure travel marketing and sales training experience to the position.
Dana Johnson has spent the past 11 years dedicated to getting more people into the outdoors through adventure travel. She began as an outreach specialist with Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) where she discovered a big disconnect between the urban population and the great outdoors. As an outdoors enthusiast, Dana was able to discover many amazing places off the beaten path and wanted to share this joy with others. In 2010 she opened her own adventure specific travel agency, Open Leaf Excursions LLC, where she planned experiential travel around the world. In 2013 Dana combined her lifelong career as a sales professional with her graduate education in exercise physiology and sports psychology. She became an international speaker and experiential business consultant for the tourism industry. In her consulting she emphasizes the physiological and psychological responses to travel itineraries and service, making them more memorable and client specific.
Joining Southwind Adventures was a natural fit as Dana has extensively traveled throughout South and Central America and has many business connections throughout. To quote Dana, “I love Latin America. It’s vibrant, sassy and fun which is a direct reflection of my personality. Plus, who can argue about an area where Salsa and Latin music is the heartbeat of the people? Having an opportunity to work in this area with a successful longstanding company is something I had to do. I’m honored to have chosen for this position.”
Southwind Adventure’s Owner and Director of Operations, Luis Felipa, says, “We are extremely excited to have Dana Johnson on our team. Her lifetime career of sales combined with her marketing expertise is just what we need to take Southwind Adventure’s 26 years of experience to the next generation.”
Dana currently lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin with her husband and two teen sons. As a family they enjoy whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and camping. Dana is also an avid reader and writer and is currently working on the completion of her first book. As always, Dana is looking for her next travel adventure and hopes to introduce Latin America to many more people in the near future.