Keep Climbing

Delta® Books Alumna as Marketing Manager

By Rachel Forrester

“Keep Climbing.” It’s the slogan for Delta Air Lines ® , and it is one that alumna Roma Vivas Hurtado (MBA 13, MA 08) has exemplified over the years in both her personal travel and professional life. The current marketing manager for Delta Vacations ® , one of Delta’s subsidiaries, Roma works with a small group of professionals to make sure all channels represent the company’s brand correctly.

“I make sure all the marketing tactics (e-mails, digital banners, magazine ads, etc.) are turned in on time,” explains Roma. “Every year I handle about 200 tactics, each with their own deadlines, offers and messages. Then, when an ad is launched, I can see if there was a shift in bookings coming from that specific publication. I can then analyze how the strategy performed and make necessary changes to boost performance.”

A dual citizen of the U.S. and Venezuela, Roma was part of the International Club and Hispanic Club at Eastern. She realized her passion for working in the travel industry shortly after earning her second master’s degree.

“I found myself in Panama City, Florida where I started work as a bilingual marketing manager for the online travel agency Bookit.com,” says Roma.

“Then, three years ago I took a leap of faith and moved to Atlanta—not knowing a soul—to work for a chain of Cancun hotels headquartered there.”

The journey most recently led Roma to the Delta Vacations brand team, where she handles marketing plans for large travel agencies including AAA and AMEX Travel. Roma’s accounts are all U.S.-based, so she only travels for work a couple times a year. Since working for an international company does not necessarily mean work equals adventure, Roma makes sure to feed her travel bug as often as possible on her own time.

“One perk with working for Delta Vacations is that I can fly standby anywhere Delta flies,” Roma explains. “It’s not guaranteed you will get on a flight though, and planning a trip is not that easy because I can only maybe predict if flying on standby is possible one week before. Outside of work I have been blessed to have been to St. Lucia, Jamaica, Panama, Switzerland, Spain, Seattle, San Francisco and Albuquerque to visit my mom.”

Recently, Roma and her mom, ENMU Associate Professor of Bilingual Education Dr. Hurtado de Vivas, were able to take a trip together to Cancun. Roma has made a goal to go on one trip every month, and she’s been pretty successful. Last year she took 10 trips in 10 months, all on standby, and mostly during long weekends when she did not have to take time off of work.