I'm thinking of everything from the restaurant and gift shop at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia to the cluster of business that feed on the throngs visiting Disneyworld in Orlando. I suppose that people who write about travel are part of the industry, but no one ever went into that line of work to get rich. Jaime referred to a bias I had confessed. Yep, that's my bias and I stand by it. I know that few on this planet work longer hours or more intensely than the staffs of these start-ups.
Competition is fierce and only the brightest, most agile, and luckiest succeed.
Investors and employees who hold stock in dot coms may theoretically be worth thousands, even millions, but they can't pay for much with that theoretical money. Only if they beat the odds, and the burn rate, will they be able to take the company public. At that point, the sun will shine brightly at least for a while. As your question suggests, those who do best in the travel industry are those who own the store. No surprise there.