Business of the Week: Cappy’s Travel, Mount Kisco
After four decades in business, a venture that has taken her around the world and back, Cappy Devlin is quite happy to continue doing what she loves most.
Devlin, the president of Cappy’s Travel in Mount Kisco, will celebrate her company’s 40th anniversary Nov. 17, giving away a grand prize of $40,000 in cash and a Celebrity cruise for two to Bermuda. The “Sail Away With 40K” dice roll contest will take place at the Mount Kisco Holiday Inn from 2 to 4 p.m.
Devlin originally established the business as Cappy Devlin International, Inc. The idea was born out of a three-month trip she took to Europe on behalf of the World Press Institute program, which Devlin worked closely on while an employee of Reader’s Digest.
The institute, founded in 1961 by her late husband, Harry Morgan, a former roving editor at Reader’s Digest and a Fulbright Scholar, trained journalists around the world about the role and responsibilities of a free press. It shut down in 2007.
The couple would later establish the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (FAF), an organization that in the 1970s pioneered private citizen and cultural exchange programs around the globe, including China and the former Soviet Union. From 1973 to 1979, Devlin served as the organization’s vice president and executive director.
Returning from her travels, Devlin, who majored in economics at Manhattanville College, admits to being “intrigued by the world” and amazed by all of the generous and welcoming people she encountered on her trip.
She was determined to chart her own course, even though she could have easily made a career in advertising or journalism. For a time, she worked at the Manhattan ad agency BBDO and also served as editor of the Ticketron Sports and Entertainment Guide, a publication distributed by Ticketron, which was later bought out by Ticketmaster.
“Actually, I’d never even been in a travel agency,” said Devlin, who was born in New York City, lived in Bronxville for a while and later moved with her family to Mount Kisco.
Getting her feet wet with corporate clients in New York City was a good way to ease into the industry. Relocating to Mount Kisco in 1977, however, gave her the opportunity to pitch her global travel business to a whole new crop of clients.
In addition to the thousands of individual clients she has served over the years, including many local families, Devlin has handled travel plans for more than 2,000 groups for corporate incentive programs and meetings, convention groups, destination weddings and other celebratory vacations.
Devlin has several agents in her North Bedford Road office, but she still likes to work directly with customers. It’s particularly important if they’re planning an extended trip that includes stops in several countries, she explained. Travelers interested in taking long trips that require complicated itineraries are usually “scared to death to go online,” she said.
Her expertise and array of resources can make a huge difference.
“It makes the difference between a normal trip and an extraordinary experience,” she said.
Cappy’s Travel is one of 325 agencies worldwide belonging to Virtuoso, a prestigious and powerful luxury travel network. Devlin said the affiliation has enabled her to form valuable partnerships with some of the world’s finest hotels, cruise lines, airlines and tour companies.
Devlin hosts a weekly radio show on WFAS-AM, “Cappy’s Travel Show,” which provides listeners with the latest travel tips. She also writes a monthly column for WAG Magazine called “WAGwanders.”
Devlin said she loves to “bring joy and delight to everyone who comes to our agency for a cruise or a vacation.”
To book a vacation with Cappy’s Travel, located at 195 N. Bedford Rd., call Devlin at 914-241-0383. To find out more about the agency, visit www.travel-by-net.
Colette Connolly is a copywriter and p.r. expert. She owns Connolly Communications, which is based in Bronxville, New York. Colette specializes in providing content-rich, SEO-optimized press releases, articles, newsletters, brochures, and customer success stories.