Tourism Revenue Leakage from Imported Goods and Repatriated Profits in Sightseeing Charters

$15,000–$25,000 per year per 10-vehicle fleet from importing parts, foreign fuel contracts, and non-local servicing; margins compressed because leakage cost not recovered in charter pricing • $2,500–$5,000 per cruise contract annually (typical port calls yield 20–40% of local potential due to cruise operator control); plus loss of contract renewal if operator switches to competitor offering better cruise integration • $20,000–$40,000 per year from emergency parts markup and foreign supplier premiums; additional reputation loss when cruise operators audit supply chains and find zero local sourcing

Ad hoc local sourcing decisions managed manually per charter using spreadsheets, email threads, WhatsApp messages, and staff knowledge rather than a system that optimizes for local economic retention at the quote and billing stage. • Coordinator maintains parallel spreadsheets for fleet maintenance budgets; uses phone/email to source parts; no systematic comparison of local vs foreign vendor pricing; repairs contracted via informal supplier relationships • Coordinator uses WhatsApp with foreign ship chandlers and parts suppliers due to availability/speed; maintains manual list of 'trusted' vendors, mostly international; no audit of sourcing choices