“As consumers we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy”

What is tourism leakage?

Tourism leakage refers to economic leakage in the tourism industry. It is the money that leaks out of your destination due to profits going to foreign-owned entities like hotels, restaurants and bars and purchases of imported products. As we work to put a comprehensive assessment of our own together, Tourism Teacher simplifies it best.

In many high tourism destinations, between 60% and up to 95% of money spent locally leaves the destination country. In South East Asia, this means the developing communities are not able to reap the full benefits of tourism nor earn the resources to properly address some of its negative impacts.

We are not here to bum you out with the terrible side of tourism. We want to use our platform to educate and inspire people to travel differently and better, and when possible travel slower and further. If you want to read more about this, please click here and here.

With close to thirty years of combined travel experience and over a decade of working with some of our guides, we have learned a few important lessons. Here are things you can do to travel responsibly and respectfully:

1. When looking for a place to sleep:

   • Avoid big hotel chains

   • Avoid using credit card points in developing countries

   • Avoid booking platforms that take an unfair percentage of sales

2. When looking for a place to eat:

   • Avoid big coffee and big fast food chains

   • Look for those places which source locally and organically

   • Look for those places which function as a social enterprise, prioritising people over profit

3. When looking for things to see and do:

   • Plan ahead for the best experience

   • Pay the deposits in advance, there is a cost of opportunity-loss

   • Always insist to do things their way, the “local way”, the “secret way”