Fresh Faces and a Fresh Launch for Toto Tours

Dan the Elder Introduces Dan the Younger

When I started Toto Tours 35 years ago it was always my dream that the company would outlive me and continue to offer exciting travel opportunities to our community long after I hung up my ruby slippers. I am thrilled to announce that my dream has become a reality and that, at the ripe age of 72, I am turning over the reins of Toto Tours to a new, much younger Dan and his spouse, Michael. They accompanied me on our recent “Belgian Waffle” barging tour where I first introduced them as the new owners of Toto Tours to those on board. You can see a video of that announcement here.

Throughout the week that followed we all had the opportunity to get close with these wonderful guys and see their outgoing and fun nature, their ability to make friends with everybody, and their strong leadership abilities.

They are already well into the work of planning an exciting line-up of tours for 2026. You’ll be hearing much more about those plans in the coming months.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Dan Perry, the new majority shareholder of the company, and his partner in business and in life, Michael Serapiglia. They are perfectly suited for this work, with Dan having previously worked for another major gay tour operator, and both of them being intimately connected with our community through their efforts on behalf of “Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS.”

I will be working closely with them in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition, and you might even see me from time to time on future tours. Please join me in welcoming them and supporting the growth of Toto Tours in the years ahead.

At the outset, Toto Tours and I relied on the generosity of my clients to carry me through the difficult initial steps of launching my vision to build community through shared adventure. With your help, my vision became reality. We’ve traveled together, seen incredible sights, laughed, cried, created lasting memories and built life-long relationships. Toto Tours has become everything I’d hoped and imagined, a true family. You, my Toto family, have given my life meaning, and I am forever grateful.

If it were possible, I would continue doing this job that I love and traveling with you forever. My body tells me otherwise, however, and I must listen. I confidently put my beloved Toto family into Dan and Michael’s capable hands with complete trust that they will uphold the values and culture of Toto Tours and ensure that our family has a home long into the future.

We are definitely not in Kansas anymore! A culture of love, acceptance and belonging, like we have created here at Toto Tours, is needed now more than ever before.

As in the early days and through the pandemic and my cancer diagnosis, when you helped carry the vision of Toto Tours through difficult times, Toto needs you now. Dan & Michael aren’t independently wealthy, and they have a lot to handle – the purchase price, deposits for coming tours, a refreshed website, social media updates, marketing and public relations outreach, and so much more.

They have started a GoFundMe to ensure the continued strength of Toto Tours as my time at the helm must draw to a close, and I truly hope you will give generously. In so doing, you not only honor my legacy and life’s work, but you also support my transition into this last adventure of my life … retirement! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

With everlasting love and gratitude,
Dan Ware
Founder & Outgoing President of Toto Tours