Four Seasons Travel was founded in 1982 by two women who had been working together at a nearby travel agency — Joan Flach and Ethel Sloan. They soon brought on another agent, Maureen Abrahamsen, and together the three built a thriving business on the Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck, serving clients with both business and leisure travel. In the early days, everything was done by hand on paper. Computer systems, furnished by the airlines, arrived within a few years and made the agency considerably more efficient.

The founders didn't just sell travel — they lived it. Ethel Sloan in particular was a constant traveler, having spent a couple of years in Australia with her husband and sons, and later exploring far-flung destinations across Africa, Asia, and beyond. 

 

When the internet arrived, the conventional wisdom was that agencies like ours would no longer be needed. That turned out to be far from the case. What the internet did change was the simpler end of the business — booking a flight from New York to Chicago, for example, became something people could easily do on their own. But for the traveler who wanted something more: a complicated itinerary, recommendations on where to go, a guided journey through Africa  — that's where Four Seasons Travel came in. And that’s the value it brings to this day.

 

Now, with AI promising to handle people's travel planning, some are saying the same thing all over again. The answer is the same too. AI can help, but it will never replace the expertise and personal care that an experienced agent brings to every trip. 

 

That's where Ruth Topol comes in…..