The Beginning
Soon after graduating, she found herself in a well established travel agency working as specialist for Group Travel. She also managed several corporate accounts and was promoted to manage the day to day agency’s operations. Yahaira participated in many trips but there was one that stood out from the rest. It was a trip to Extremadura, Spain in March of 2000, where she led a group of volunteers to help a local community organization to carry on a social project. That experience transformed the lives of the volunteers as they learned about the people and the culture but also had a positive, long-lasting impact on the local community.After that life-changing experience, Yahaira realized that she was, in fact, living out 90% of her marketing plan. She then looked for a way to fulfill the other 10% which was to give back to her own community. At that time she was approached by a non-profit organization to serve as the Director of Hispanic Mobilization for USA. She took the challenge and kept operating as a home-based travel agent.
A strong desire to visit other countries and learn about languages and cultures around the world is a part of Yahaira since she was a kid. Her first travel adventure was a guided tour from Puerto Rico to Orlando, Florida when she was 12 years old.
She took that week-long trip by herself and it ignited her passion of seeing and exploring the world around her and beyond! She has been traveling since then experiencing different cultures and giving back to the communities she visit. Each of those trip have made an impact on her life, shaping her to the person she is today.
With the desire of helping others to open up to new horizons, Yahaira embarked the journey of a formal travel & tourism education. On that journey she was confronted with a question that changed her life:
What are you going to do with everything that you have learned?
A Cultural Adventure
The challenges of being the Director of Hispanic Mobilization led her into new paths and new countries. One of those countries was Peru, where she lived and worked for eleven months. There, she served as a facilitator and consultant for a group of local professionals with the desire of developing a non-profit organization to provide community development projects that in a holistic approach improve the quality of life of the native habitants of the inlands of Peru. She also lived among the Quechuas of Cajamarca learning their cultural norm and studying the potential of tourism and entrepreneurship combined with basic community development projects to strengthen the local economy.
In 2008, Yahaira was back in the USA and she was chosen to represent the State of Florida in a Delegation of Business to India. While in India, she represented the travel industry as a certified Incredible India specialist.
This time the answer was crystal clear: Launch Finisterre Travel. A travel and tourism company that combines creative tourism with entrepreneurship and community development projects overseas.