Travel agents survive by finding their niches

Adrienne Anderson is good with a calculator. She has to be because on a regular basis she arranges gatherings for 20 to 200 people, 600 meals or 1,200 glasses of wine a day.

No, she’s not an event planner. She’s a travel agent.

Today’s travel agencies have their share of challenges — from the cut in airline commissions to the post-Sept. 11, 2001, decline in travel. So to survive, travel agents have become specialists and focus on niche travel.

“People still want the personalized service a travel agent offers,” said Anderson, a travel agent at Gadabout Travel in Suntree, Fla. “But there is a lot more involved nowadays to being a travel agent.