10 Travel Agent Niches You Didn't Know Existed

Once upon a time, a travel agent could easily be a jack of all trades. Today, while many well-rounded agents still exist, the much larger trend is toward specialization, which can lead to a better mastery of the product and (naturally) higher profits. Most importantly, finding a niche in the travel industry means living out your dreams in a way few have ever dreamed of before.

Love looking skyward on a clear night? There is an entire industry built up around tours and destinations to places where the sites to see are millions of lightyears away. From heading to Alaska or Iceland to see the Northern Lights or out to Utah to bike toward a stargazer campground, the itineraries can be out of this world.

Libertine Travel isn't technically new, but the internet is making it more accessible for outsiders than ever before. This is the kind of travel you wouldn't want your parents (or kids) finding out about. These naughty journeys are not for the faint of heart or easily embarrassed.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's a growing trend toward religious tourism to churches, cathedrals and holy sites-even by non-religious people. Whether its cruises around the Holy Land or tours tracing the footsteps of the great men of various faiths, there's great interest in connecting to something bigger than us all.

Is "wanna get away?" more of a day-to-day mantra than just a travel slogan? Introverts traveling in groups sounds like an oxymoron, but it's more common than you'd think. Picture this: an amazing guided tour with plenty of solo time to recharge your batteries and never being forced into crowded group dinners with people you barely know. Sound amazing? Did you just decide you're an introvert?

Anyone can pick up the newspaper, point to a location on the front page and plan a trip there, but...that would be inadvisable in most circumstances. Around the growing trend of 24/7 news junkies, there are travel agents and tour guides who will plan your trip ripped right from the headlines-all while providing the highest levels of safety and comfort.

Maybe it isn't current events that have your attention, but the great tragedies of another time. Dark Tourism is the term used to describe the trend toward traveling to places historically associated with death. This isn't a hokey graveyard tour in your local tourist trap, these are trips and tours that will send shivers up even the most hardened spine.

Many people know about females-only travel, and most know about solo travel and adventure travel. What do you get when you put all three of them together as a travel agent specialty? You get a highly-specialized expert who knows how to thread the needle and ensure that a woman has an amazing, safe and enjoyable time while pushing the limits of what she thought was possible.

More and more, families aren't going to see the grandparents. Instead, grandparents are taking their families on the trips of their multigenerational lifetimes. Maybe it's a little less inheritance in the years to come, but wouldn't you rather spend that time together now? Finding the perfect accomodations for grandma and her 2-year-old grandson is a bit of genius only a travel agent can muster.

We can go anywhere, but should we? In the wake of decades of hearing about (overblown) "Ugly American" tourism horror stories, there came a push toward traveling like a local and more responsible tourism. In recent years, though, there is an even bigger trend making an even bigger impact-going to places where traveling with minimal impact isn't enough. Voluntourism is about going to a disadvantaged area and making a difference for good, and it takes a special travel agent to make it happen.

Some people travel with their pets. Others, well...they travel for their pets. It's for these amazing pet lovers that travel agents put together some amazing itineraries like pet/owner tandem scuba diving, walking tours with ample stops for mess cleanup or culinary tours with dog and cat-friendly treats as well as high-end gourmet meals for owners.