Business Profile: Air and Marine Travel, Brewster
When Barry Hyatt first started working in the travel agency, it was so long ago that the United States was starting to place travel restrictions to a Cuba.
The year was 1960, and Hyatt was working in Manhattan. Two years later, he moved to Brewster and started his own business, Air and Marine Travel, on the village’s Main Street and has been in the same spot ever since. It’s the longest running business on Main Street where the same owner has overlooked it from its inception. (Although Bob’s Diner has been around longer, it has had different owners within the same family.)
For more than half a century, Hyatt has arranged trips around the globe for a load of loyal clients that have heard from him through referrals. On his desk at the moment, he has a trip booked for the Czech Republic, Austria and Berlin, a river cruise through Europe, a round trip to Rome, a Nordic cruise to Russia and Poland, a flight to Napa Valley and other California locations, a trip to Botswana, an African safari, and many other trips that touch on every end of the globe.
Hyatt still has two big address books that contain contact information that dates back to the first year he started, though he hasn’t met more than five percent of his clients. Those clients come from major cities around the country.
Hyatt said besides a travel agency in Carmel, his business is the only other “bricks and water” travel agency in the county. He believes his personal longevity traces back to having a job that doesn’t require heavy lifting, though he notes it can stressful.
“Because things are unpredictable,” he said.
For instance, though Hyatt doesn’t have anyone in Nepal at the moment, a country that recently suffered a terrible earthquake, that is one situation where he would quickly have to address a major problem to help his traveling clients.
“It’s a very responsible job,” Hyatt said. “You have to stay on top of things.”
Hyatt, who has a wealth of history of the village through different photos and artwork, came over from London. He can even recall how his uncle, who started the family in Brewster, heard on television that the building across from the Brewster train station (where Hyatt is still today) had burned down. The uncle thought the office he bought was suddenly gone in the fire, but it managed to survive the blaze.
“Brewster was really a railroad town,” Hyatt said, noting many train workers lived in the community.
Now an impressive number of years later, Hyatt, who turns 80 in September, is getting ready to retire. When he his birthday comes on September 15, he’ll step aside at the end of that month and plans on skiing, noting it’s free at certain locations in Utah when a certain age is reached.
When asked what he thinks quitting will feel like after decades of working non-stop, Hyatt replied, “Relaxing.”
And, ironically, just as Hyatt nears retirement, the United States is beginning to loosen the travel ban it once imposed on Cuba 55 years ago, when Hyatt started a lifelong career.
