The telltale signs of that success can be found locally at Peak Travel Group, Willow Glen Travel Agency and All Cruise Travel.

These businesses, like others in the bricks and mortar sector of the industry, had to adapt and change after the introduction of online upstarts such as priceline.com and expedia.com, and the devastating affects of Sept. 11 on travel. But they did, by shifting their business focus from a more generalized customer approach to an emphasis on personalized service--the human touch.

Marilyn Bell Zelaya is intimately familiar with the changes travel agencies have to make in order to keep up. She says, her mother, Kay Bell, is the owner of the oldest travel agency in Willow Glen.

Bell established Willow Glen Travel Agency in 1961 and was the first woman in Santa Clara County to have her own business, says Bell Zelaya.

"She put up with a lot of guff from the airlines," Bell Zelaya says. "They wanted my father to be part of the business."

But Bell held her ground and has outlasted all her competition, her daughter says.

Her mother had a sharp eye for the industry and saw the shift in the business before it hit.

"She realized about 15 years ago that we either had to go very big or cut back and specialize in order to be successful," Bell Zelaya says.

So the agency went from 12 agents and a more general approach to five agents and an individual and family-leisure approach.

"It's much more fun to do personal travel," Bell Zelaya says. "You get to know your families. We're providing service for fourth generations in some families."

Bell Zelaya is the manager at the agency and has been working for her mother since 1968.

She says the Internet did not affect the agency as negatively as people have been lead to believe.

"Did it hurt us immediately? Probably," Bell Zelaya says. "We're just very fortunate in having high return and referral rates."

The agency has kept up with technology and makes good use of it, but Bell Zelaya says, "Nothing can beat the personal touch."

The biggest bump, in Bell Zelaya's opinion, was Sept. 11.

"We knew where our clients were," she says. "We had personal relationships with hotels and were able to get our customers home with very few upsets."

Two weeks after Sept. 11, Bell Zelaya and the rest of her staff were in the office day and night, solving problems for customers and non-customers alike.

"We had many people come in and ask for help because they booked their travel online and needed help," Bell Zelaya says. "We would tell them what to do and who to talk to instead of just sending them away."

Willow Glen Travel developed contacts and personal relationships on a global scale after decades in the business. It was those relationships that became invaluable during those particularly difficult times.

The second thing that impacted the travel business significantly, but in a positive way, was the reintroduction of cruises and their new, more affordable rates, Bell Zelaya says.

"Before 1960, when the first jet was introduced, most people went to Europe by ship," Bell Zelaya says. That way of travel changed with the advent of the airplane.

"Now cruising is once again a major travel option. It's a return to the 1930s, '40s, and '50s as a method of transportation," she says.

This development in the travel business did not go unnoticed.

Bill Knight, owner of All Cruise Travel, opened his business in 1984 and moved it to Willow Glen in 1988.

Many cruise lines consolidated during this time and moved their headquarters from the West Coast to Miami. There are only two West Coast cruise lines, Princess and Crystal Cruises.

Knight was originally in San Francisco but after the migration decided to move back to his hometown of San Jose.

"It's a lot easier to do business here," Knight says.

Like Bell, Knight changed his business model to specialize in the cruise business before cruises became so popular.

Knight also embraced the Internet as a resource, much as Bell Zelaya did.

The addition of 100 new cruise ships in the last 10 years has also helped business.

"The cruise's appeal has changed for different audiences," Knight says. "They are now relatively cheap and appeal to a mass audience."

Knight says that the downside of booking on the Internet or not knowing the travel agent is people don't get an objective recommendation.

"For example, if you want to book with Carnival, call them up and ask if their product is right for you; they will, of course, tell you that it is," Knight says. "But if you go to an independent third party, such as a travel agency like All Cruise Travel, the agent will ask you a series of questions to better know what it is you are looking for in a cruise vacation and recommend what's best for you."

This objectivity, as well as the knowledge and experience that agents bring to the table, have helped keep businesses like Peak's Travel Group competitive and lucrative.

The agency and its name were first introduced to Willow Glen in 1962 as Jack Peak Travel. The business was sold in 1990. Peak's son, Tyler Peak, stayed on under the new ownership for four years before deciding to open another agency in 1996.

"In the 10 years we have been in business, we have acquired about 11 other agencies," Peak says.

His business already understood the new business model and worked it to their advantage.

"Since then, we have grown in excess of $50 million in sales a year," Peak says.

Peak has staffed his agency with knowledgeable agents who know the industry and can offer their years of experience to the customers.

"This adds value to every transaction," Peak says. "We don't stop at service but use our knowledge and expertise of the business to add to the experience of the travel."

Peak says this tailored travel is what sets the bricks and mortar travel agents apart and helps them succeed.

"We don't just book travel," Peak says. "We take the person's perception of what they want and weave it into a product that they can enjoy, afford and later rave to their family about."

The Internet has helped his business, not hindered it, Peak says.

"We see the Internet as an extension of the Yellow Pages," Peak says. "Two thirds of our business is coming from natural searches on the Internet."

Peak says that those travel agencies that did not make it after the Internet business boom and Sept. 11 failed because they didn't change the way they did business.

"If you just sell a commodity or product, you don't differentiate yourself from the rest," Peak says. "We have to react to change."

Although there are fewer traditional travel agents around, if they react, they will continue and prosper, Peak says.

And he notes, "The largest misconception out in the public's eye is that travel agencies are no longer around nor needed. But we're still viable, alive, growing and prospering."

Who to call when traveling:

Willow Glen Travel Agency, 1275 Lincoln Ave. Suite 11. For more information, call 408.298.0136 or visit www.willowglentravel.com.

All Cruise Travel, 1213 Lincoln Ave. For more information, call 408.295.1200 or visit www.allcruise.com.

Peak Travel, 1221 Lincoln Ave. For more information, call 408.446. 4886 or visit www.peaktravel.com.

Destinations Unlimited in Willow Glen. For more information, call 408.265.6666 or email defunltd@ comcast.com.