Making WAVES

Dogged determination and a willingness to throw herself in at the deep end have seen Andrea DeMarco rise to the top, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

When Andrea DeMarco started her career in finance, she never expected that one day she would be in a senior executive role for one of the largest cruise lines in the world. Now, as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Regent Seven Seas Cruises and with two decades of cruise experience under her belt, she can’t imagine life any other way.

After securing two finance degrees, Andrea’s career started in the car rental industry before she took a cruise holiday and became instantly hooked on exploring the world by sea. On her return, she submitted resumes to cruise lines for revenue management roles and was quickly picked up. Nights and weekends were spent studying for her Master’s Degree, which led to a role in corporate finance and gave her a taste of Wall Street.

Cautious of being pigeonholed, she expanded her skill set and moved into sales where she handled ship charters and multi-million dollar transactions and learned ship operations first-hand.

When an opportunity arose to head up sales for Norwegian Cruise Line, her expertise in finance and past experience on Wall Street led to an offer to lead the brand’s investor relations, and to ultimately take the wider company public.

She progressed to Senior VP of Investor Relations and ESG for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the firm that owns and operates three cruise brands – including Regent Seven Seas Cruises – and was the high-profile face and voice of the organisation to Wall Street. DeMarco was also consistently ranked by the New York Stock Exchange as the best investor relations officer.

This determination has continued to see Andrea rise in the ranks, despite often being one of the few women in the room. “While Wall Street and the financial industry is still very male-dominated, it is changing. It’s certainly important to see women in leadership roles across a variety of industries.

“And I think it’s really important to have a diverse viewpoint around your management team, not only through gender but also diverse backgrounds.

“My advice to women as they navigate their career is to find your passion and follow it. Passion leads to success. In addition, challenge yourself by stepping outside of your comfort zone. When you push yourself to try something you’ve never done before is when you have breakthrough moments and when you grow most.”

Looking to the future

Andrea says the cruise line undergoes a lot of research to ensure it is meeting the demands of an ever-discerning traveller. Its most recent findings are that people are wanting to travel to exotic locations, places they might have otherwise not been prepared to go like the Middle East and Africa – and travelling as a family has become increasingly important.

She says it’s evident we’ve underestimated how much travel has meant to us.

“I think the pandemic taught us a lot that we took things for granted. And most people are saying, ‘Listen, I’m not going to wait to go on that trip anymore. I’m going to treat myself and I’m going to do it in style in a luxurious way.’

“The consumer mindset has changed; the purchasing behaviour has changed and it is all in favour of luxury.”

Andrea is an extraordinary role model for women, and we look forward to seeing how far she makes it through that glass ceiling. We believe she will smash it.