Chris G. Kraras
Chairman of the Board – (50 years)Fifty years ago, Chris and his beloved and late father, Gus, proudly founded White Star Tours. Most of the trips for the first thirty years were created through the efforts of Chris in his attempt to offer quality group travel packages to a myriad of destinations at reasonable rates. Through the years, with the help of many family members and a dedicated staff under Chris’s tutelage, White Star Tours has reached new heights as a nationally-recognized and highly respected organization.
Dean Kraras
President – (34 years)Dean, who is Chris’s son, is actively involved in all key aspects of the White Star operations, including human resources, sales, marketing, and finance. After having worked in the company part time during high school and college, he assumed a full-time role subsequent to his college graduation in 1995. Four years ago, following the lead of his Dad, he became the President of White Star Tours, and has gained the respect of the entire company. Dean also continues to specialize in various tours that include Cape Cod, Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, Montreal/Quebec, Ottawa, the Castles of New York, and the Nordic.
Mauro Cammarano
Vice-Chairman of the Board – (48 years)Mauro, the husband of Chris’s sister, Angel, has had a front-row seat to the company’s growth for most of the past five decades, when he had previously served as vice-president of the company. He has always been at Chris’ side as the company progressed, and has continued to work as a loyal confidant to Chris. He currently manages the sales personnel, is involved in the company’s advertising, and oversees many of the sea shore locations.
Patricia Kraras Donahue
Treasurer & CFO – (40 years)Patricia (Pat), younger sister of Chris, has a vital role in the day to day operations of White Star Tours. With over 40 years of experience, Pat’s indefatigable duties include accounts receivables such as payments from groups and trip insurances. She also offers her expertise and assistance with group leaders as they plan their trips, and develops a personal relationship with virtually every one of them, Beyond that, she remains totally committed to keeping all the company’s finances in order. Pat is widely regarded for her compassion and dedication to the company.
Andrew Cammarano
Vice-President – (28 years)Andrew, son of Mauro and Angel, joined White Star Tours full time in 2003 upon his college graduation. He has become a dedicated member of the sales team, and handles tours to the Black Hills of South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park, the Holland Tulip Festival, Cleveland, OH, Baltimore & Annapolis, “Ride the Rails” of West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Andrew also deals daily with a multitude of bus companies that provide transportation services for our traveling groups. He replaced his father as Vice-President of the company four years ago, and has been working as a good teammate with Dean.
Marisa Kraras Hunsicker
Tour Book Editor and Book Keeping Assistant (26 years)As the daughter of Chris, Marisa has grown up through the years watching and learning the important workings of the family business. Most recently, Marisa has stepped into the role of editor to the company’s annual Tour Book, an elegant pictorial magazine featuring an abundance of popular travel options for potential traveling groups. She also assists with the company’s accounting department. One of Marisa’s many attributes is her ability to lift the spirits of all the family members and staff in our office.
Angel Cammarano
Associate – (48 years)Angel, wife of Mauro and sister to Chris, labored from her young teenage years in her family’s hospitality business, which paved an excellent road to her involvement with White Star Tours from its inception. Along with her husband, she worked with the family and witnessed a small company evolve into a large and successful group travel entity. Today, Angel provides in-house assistance to customers as a liaison to the sales force, and is an avid supporter to the family and staff.
Ann Kraras
Associate – (50 years)Having been married to Chris for almost 53 years, Ann has been with White Star Tours from its meager beginnings, when its very first office was in the spare bedroom of their home. When the name of our company was created, they looked no further than the family owned White Star Motel, a motor hotel in Wildwood, NJ, managed by Ann at the time. After all these years, Ann continues to be Chris’s biggest supporter, and offers her assistance as needed, especially during the large Redner’s Food Market trips held annually for hundreds of clients to various Caribbean destinations.
Bernie Donahue
Travel & Tech Specialist – (28 years)Bernie, husband of Patricia, specializes in group travel to the Caribbean. For more than 25 years, Bernie has arranged flight travel for many groups, such as the annual Redner Food Market trip, to popular destinations that offer beautiful land packages and cruises. He also used his very special and creative talent to help keep the company’s website first rate.
Dominic (Nick) Mascheri
Tour Consultant & Manager – (38 years)With 38 years of experience in the group travel industry, Nick was one of the first fulltime employees of White Star Tours. He has accumulated a vast knowledge of what groups want and need in a complete travel package. Nick was instrumental in creating the very popular Azalea Festival package into Norfolk, VA. He also handles all the Florida locations as well as Virginia Beach, Outer Banks, Savannah, Philadelphia, the Amish Country of Ohio, and many other destinations. His innovative ideas for group tours have been a welcoming asset to our company.
Despina (Des) Yianoulis
Tour Consultant & Manager – (37 years)Des is a seasoned White Star Tours consultant with 37 years of experience, and has a wonderful track record for assisting her travel customers toward their own special tour adventures. As one of the company’s first fulltime employees, she had started out specializing in group trips to Ocean City, MD, but now has expanded her expertise to Nashville, Pigeon Forge, The Smoky Mountains, Memphis, New York City, Williamsburg, Asheville, the Biltmore, and Texas. Des has become well known for her knack of befriending so many of her clients and destination staff.
Nick Krallis
Travel Consultant & Manager – (37 years)Having been another one of the first fulltime staff members to be hired by White Star Tours, Nick has proven to be a very loyal and dedicated employee for 37 years. His priority in planning tours for Group Leaders is to enable them and their group to experience an enjoyable, safe, and fun trip with the least amount of stress. Nick specializes in group vacations to Maine, New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and Nova Scotia. His lightheartedness is a prevalent characteristic around our office.
Mike White
Travel Consultant & Manager – (36 years)With more than three decades of travel experience, Mike is a wonderful resource for planning a travel adventure. Previously, during his college years, he had first begun with White Star by welcoming groups to the Wildwood, NJ White Star Jamboree weeks. Today, he plans trips to favorite destinations such as Myrtle Beach, Branson, and the new Ark Encounter in Kentucky. In addition, Mike’s knowledge of the cruise industry has generated thousands of fabulous cruises for our White Star customers.
Dee Ragonese
Tour Consultant & Manager – (6 years)Dee first offered her services with White Star Tours over 23 years ago, needed to take a few years hiatus, and then happily returned two years ago. She first began as a secretary, later assisted with group cruises, and currently manages all the groups that travel to some of Pennsylvania’s most scenic and historic gems: the Pennsylvania Amish Lands, Gettysburg, and Hershey. Dee also pleasantly receives new customer calls, and serves as a receptionist.
Chris Himmelberger
Tour Consultant & Manager – (3 years)As a more recent staff member of White Star Tours, Chris has mastered the business of connecting clients to their individualized ideas of relaxation and fun through travel. He focuses on trips to the beautiful Michigan’s Mackinac Island, Upper Peninsula, and Frankenmuth area; he also specializes in travel to the scenic Northeast states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as day trips to the big apple, New York City.
Mike Zervanos
Accounting Specialist – (28 years)Mike has been with White Star Tours for 28 years and is the consummate team player. His preciseness and efficiency in our accounting department is superseded only by his calm and cooperative presence in the office. Mike diligently assists Pat with all matters of accounting, bookkeeping and banking. He also offers his valuable services with computer issues as well many other areas in the company. Mike has many talents, and is our go-to guy for any in-house technological issues.
Metaxia (Maddy) Kostomeris
Flyer Design and Data Specialist - (35 years)Metaxia began her White Star Tours venture in 1985 as a sales support team member. Currently, she wears many hats and has various vital roles: she processes all the contracts for our group leaders, develops the flyers and types itineraries that group leaders need to facilitate their tours, maintains mailing lists for key communications to traveling customers, and keeps the office stocked with needed supplies for the staff.
Cindy Reinstadtler
Sales Support Associate (26 years)Cindy has dedicated her work to White Star Tours’ customers for the past 26 years. Each year, she has the tedious task of handling at least 2,000 group leader kits sent out to them as requested by our sales staff. She also runs off the majority of the flyers used by the group leaders to promote their trips within their groups. In addition, Cindy supervises our intricate filing system.
Heather Ninfo
Secretary – (35 years)Heather has served as a beloved and efficient secretary for the entire staff of White Star Tours for approximately 35 years. She is known for her pleasant, kind, and cooperative demeanor. For the past two years, Heather has enjoyed the fulfilling challenge of being the personal secretary for Chris, the company’s Chairman of the Board. She also has stated how she values her position in this family-oriented travel agency.
Lynne Hammerschmidt
Sales Secretary - (1 year)Lynne plays a critical role in the daily operations for White Star Tours. As she assists in answering the numerous telephone lines that come into the office, and transfers the calls to the appropriate travel consultant, she is a meticulous typist as she transcribes and types travel correspondence, travel reservations, confirmations, and quotes. Although Lynne is fairly new to the travel industry, she brings with her 40 years of corporate Human Resource experience.