Management

Meet Our Senior Team

We exist for our agents and agencies, and everything we do
will have their best interests in our minds.

Flemming Friisdahl

Founder

Flemming is an experienced travel executive who has dedicated nearly 24 years to serving the Canadian travel agent community. He is a firm believer in the importance of travel professionals and the positive impact they make on consumers.

Flemming has held senior executive roles in sales and marketing at some of Canada’s leading travel companies during his many years in the industry. He has an extensive network of contacts within the industry in North America and beyond.

As the founder of The Travel Agent Next Door, he will focus on catering exclusively to home-based travel agents in Canada and will deliver unique marketing programs that are designed to maximize profitability.

Flemming has strong leadership skills and a comprehensive understanding of the Canadian marketplace.  He has an unwavering commitment to the travel industry and is a trusted advisor amongst the agent community and a visionary for today’s home-based travel seller.

Penny Martin

Vice President, Travel Agent Services

Penny began her 30 year career in the travel industry as a travel agent with CAA Travel. She held various management positions which allowed her to learn all aspects of the business.

She then moved to other large retail organizations in senior roles including product, marketing, and cruise. These roles have helped Penny gain a greater understanding of the needs of today’s Travel Agent. She also has great insight into marketing and what is effective in persuading the consumer to commit. Penny has spent many years training and coaching travel agents and her skill in this area will be a great asset to The Travel Agent Next Door.

Most recently Penny was Director of Sales at one of Canada’s largest At Home agency networks where she headed up sales, marketing, and training. Penny knows the At Home agency business inside out and will play a crucial role in assuring The Travel Agent Next Door meets all of its agents needs.

Penny also holds a CTM designation.

Rhonda Stanley

Vice President, Talent Development

Rhonda began her career as a Travel Agent in St. John’s, Newfoundland, 36 years ago. She has truly worked coast to coast and currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Rhonda held several senior roles at Sears Travel, including Regional Sales Manager, Western Canada and Business Development Manager.  During her many years at Sears Travel, she had responsibility for 30 individual branches, growing sales, developing talent and overseeing marketing initiatives.  She developed strong relationships with her 30 direct reports and 120 indirect reports while mentoring and coaching both groups. She has extensive experience with every aspect of the retail travel industry.

In 2006, Rhonda graduated from the UBC Sauder School of Business Executive program in Sales and Marketing.

She has a proven track record in leadership roles, most recently with Global Matrix as Director of Sales, where she was responsible for growing the Global Matrix customer base through sales and marketing strategies in both Canada and the U.S.

Her role at The Travel Agent Next Door will see her developing new entrants to the travel industry for the home based division.

Adina Finatan

Adina Finatan

Vice President, Finance

Adina has extensive experience in the retail travel sector, holding several roles within the finance department at big players in canadian travel industry over a span of 13 years.
Adina is very familiar with the needs of both agents and suppliers from a financial perspective.

Adina is highly qualified Professional Accountant and have extensive experience of accounting.

Adina enjoys working in a team environment and is committed to continuously reviewing the accounting processes and procedures of The Travel Agent Next Door to find efficiencies, so that our travel agents can spend their time selling travel and are not bogged down by a lot of paperwork.

Adina is also very skilled on the Global Matrix system which made her an ideal fit with The Travel Agent Next Door.

Want to know more about how to get into the Travel Industry?

Learn What It Takes To Become a

Home Based Travel Agent

become a home-based travel agent button and control your career - big commissions host services