How was you debut in the world of tourism?

I've always been fascinated with tourism. From the very beginning when I was in college and then at the university, I was always bonded to the realm of tourism. First as a hobby and as a volunteer in the students' league, I used to prepare and coordinate groups of foreign students that either traveled on their vacations or went to visit their relatives at the end of each semester. Then three years later, I got a commercial involvement in economics while I was still in school. I bought a couple of travel agencies in Florida and a travel wholesaler in New York City, both of which I ran for as many as 15 years. That's how I started little by little indulging myself into what still remains the kind of activity I get a kick out of.

What are the top-priority markets your enterprise takes aim at?

The domestic market is a top priority for Aeropostal for we control over 75% of it, and then we've got the U.S. market. We also keep tabs of the European market because this is a growing market we're talking about.

What about the Spanish market?

We've recently begun to try our hand at the Spanish market because we know we're going to gain a lot of ground in it by providing a better service, by purchasing the best equipment money can buy and by offering passengers the lowest competitive airfares, a scarce commodity these days.

How's the relationship between Aeropostal and the Spanish airlines?

Very good, indeed. We maintain mutual collaboration agreements with all of them. We always try to establish closer ties that might turn out beneficial to our passengers.

How do you juggle your professional career in the world of tourism with your personal life?

I think you can juggle them quite well with good planning, good habits and good activity coordination. With good planning, you've got spare time to do everything you want, even some personal activities I'm pretty active about. I'm talking about, for example, school activities with my children, their projects, and at the same time get a business meeting right in schedule, attend international fairs and tradeshows on tourism and even have time socked away for some meditation and such hobbies as horseback riding. So, the key to success for me is good time planning of your priorities and saving time for everything you want to do. Put them all together and you'll be leading a harmonious life.

How's your relationship with your peers in your career?

I guess we're heading straight into a different era in which women have more and wider opportunities depending on our professional training and life attitude. Definitely, if we act within the boundaries of professionalism and with a touch of psychology, there'll always be good relationships. By and large, I get along pretty well with most people. Communication here plays a major role.

What about female sensitivity and creativeness? Do they count in your career?

Make no mistakes about it. Both female creativeness and intuition are powerful tools for any businesswoman. It provides you with a wider vision of things going on and you assess other aspects you won't take account of otherwise. They stand for a terrific complement and balance once you manage to implement strategies –either on marketing, quality, services and even operations- with the sublime balance only women can provide. This is the ideal combination of balance for both businesses and any other element of your daily life.

Can you tell us about any curious occurrence or anecdote related to your job in tourism?

It often happens to me when I attend international conferences where airlines execs are invited to and people ask who the owner of Venezuela's Aeropostal Airlines is. I usually throw them to the bedroom when I tell them I'm the owner. They always reply they didn't expect the owner to be a woman, but an old man. This is something that really strikes people's attention and it's got to do with the fact that people draw a picture of everything in their minds, even how others should actually look like.