Paying Tourism Suppliers in Three Countries: A Tour Operator Case
A tour operator collects dollars long before the trip and pays hotels and guides in three countries with different currencies, calendars and rules. The cash timing gap is the core problem.
A tour operator is paid first and pays out later, but not everyone at once. The traveler books months ahead, hotels ask for a prepayment to hold rooms, and independent guides expect payment when the service ends. When the route crosses Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, the operator faces three currencies, three tax calendars and suppliers with very different access to banking.
In Soulbit Academy we present a composite, illustrative case here, not a real customer. Every amount, payment term, supplier count and season is an assumption, used to explain what it takes to pay tourism suppliers across three countries and to be candid about what a stablecoin balance solves and what it leaves untouched.
The case: a Quito-based operator selling a Pacific-to-Andes trek program (illustrative profile)
Condor Trail Partners is a fictional operator headquartered in Quito, with nine employees, selling small-group trekking and culture programs of 10 to 14 days. Each program combines a stay in the Ecuadorian highlands, a section in Peru around Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and a finish in Colombia's coffee region. Its buyers are mostly North American travelers and specialty agencies, and it bills in US dollars.
For the example, we assume about 800 travelers a year, around 30 hotels and lodges and about 50 independent guides, drivers and porters across the three countries. We also assume an average price of 2,800 dollars per traveler. None of these figures is real and none comes from Soulbit. They exist only to size the problem.
Condor Trail does not struggle with its price. It struggles with sequence. Dollars arrive months early and leave in three currencies on dates that each supplier sets. To see why, start with the full cycle of a single departure.
The cycle of one departure: from traveler payment to the last guide
A departure has four cash moments, each with its own counterparty and currency. Separating them stops a single operating balance from hiding where liquidity builds up or drains away.
- Traveler down payment. The traveler or agency pays an initial amount, assumed at 25% of the price, when the program is confirmed.
- Traveler balance. The remainder is collected several weeks before departure, again in dollars.
- Hotel prepayments. Each lodge asks for an assumed 40% to block rooms, with the rest due on arrival.
- Guide and driver payments. These are settled after the service, usually in the currency of the country where they work, often against a simple invoice or payment request.
Refunds for cancellations run the other way and require reserved liquidity, which is why they belong in any cash plan.
For collection, Soulbit payment links and collection QR codes fit payers that already use USDC or USDT, such as a wholesale agency that settles in digital dollars. They are not the natural channel for an individual traveler paying with a personal card. The guide on what a payment link is and how to collect internationally explains where each tool fits.
The seasonal cash gap when you pay tourism suppliers in advance
The cash gap appears because hotel prepayments cluster before peak season, while many travelers pay their balance only a few weeks before departure. A lodge that wants 50 days of notice forces the operator to finance the high season from the cash of the low one.
In the case, Condor Trail has a main peak from May to September and a second from December to January. In the two months before each peak, it prepays most lodges while many travelers' balances are still uncollected. Off-season flips the picture: few payments, few receipts.
Why is the cash gap harder in tourism than in other sectors?
Because the supplier is paid up front and the service is delivered months later, so the operator carries cancellation risk with money already handed over. In many industries payment follows delivery. In tourism the order is reversed, and cash sits locked in rooms that cannot be reassigned if the group does not travel.
A stablecoin balance does not create liquidity, but it can help organize it. Condor Trail can keep collected funds earmarked for prepayments in a separate balance, apart from payroll and office costs, and disburse a whole batch of hotel prepayments at once. That separation is an internal control decision, not a product feature, and it works best with dual approval for large amounts.
Country by country: Ecuador, Peru and Colombia
Each country in the route calls for a different routine, because supplier currency, access to a local rail and the stance on crypto-assets all change. Table 1 summarizes what Condor Trail does in each, under the case assumptions.
| Country | Supplier currency | What the operator pays | How payment reaches the supplier today | Local rail in Soulbit V1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | USD (dollarized economy) | Lodges and guides in the highlands | Usual dollar transfer; USDC only if the supplier accepts it as a private agreement | No |
| Peru | PEN and USD, depending on supplier | Hotels around Cusco and Sacred Valley guides | The supplier's own banking channel; USDC only by agreement, with conversion handled by the supplier | No |
| Colombia | COP | Coffee-region lodges, drivers and guides | Payment in pesos over the local bank rail | Yes |
In Ecuador the official currency is the dollar, so there is no exchange rate to manage and a USDC balance keeps the same unit of account. The Banco Central del Ecuador has stated that crypto-assets are not legal tender or an authorized means of payment. Condor Trail therefore cannot require a lodge to take USDC. It can only agree it if the lodge accepts. The Ecuadorian framework is covered in collecting and paying in USDC in Ecuador.
In Peru, the operator pays suppliers that invoice in soles and in dollars, and, as of March 2025, there was no comprehensive crypto-asset law, as noted in our Andean corridor article. Working with independent guides resembles contractor relationships, covered in paying contractors in stablecoins from Peru.
Colombia is the only country with a local bank rail in Soulbit V1. Condor Trail can disburse pesos in batches to Colombian lodges, drivers and guides.
Invoicing and withholding, at a high level
Invoicing for a tour operator depends on where the service is delivered and whether the customer is a resident, and this article describes only what we could verify. In Colombia, article 481, letter d, of the Tax Code provides a VAT exemption for tourism services supplied to non-resident foreigners within packages sold by travel operators or hotels registered in the National Tourism Registry. The tax authority, DIAN, lists three requirements in Oficio 25140 of 2019: service in Colombian territory, a non-resident foreign beneficiary and an origin in packages from those operators or hotels.
That exemption is not a general rule for every payment or supplier, and DIAN reads it restrictively. Withholding on payments abroad is a separate subject, covered in withholding tax on foreign payments in Colombia.
For Ecuador and Peru, this article states no specific VAT, IGV or withholding rules for services sold to non-residents. We did not verify them here, and they change over time. The operator should confirm them with a local accountant, the SRI and SUNAT before pricing and invoicing. What all three countries share is the need for support: every payment should have an invoice or equivalent document, plus the transaction identifier when paid in stablecoin. The matching routine is described in reconciling stablecoin payments in your books.
Risks in the cycle: cancellations, refunds, unbanked suppliers and exchange rates
The four risks for a tour operator are cancellation, refunds, unbanked suppliers and exchange rates, and none disappears because a stablecoin is involved. The first is a traveler cancelling after a prepayment has reached the lodge. The second is the refund itself, which reverses the flow and needs available cash. The third is the small guide or family lodge without a formal bank account. The fourth is the gap between the dollars collected and the soles or pesos the service costs.
Who bears the loss if a lodge holds a prepayment and the group cancels?
Whoever agreed to it in the contract: if the prepayment is non-refundable, the operator loses it, and if it is refundable, the lodge's policy and the cancellation date decide. A USDC payment is irreversible once confirmed, so a refund is a new transaction rather than an automatic reversal. Agree refund deadlines and percentages in writing before advancing funds.
For an unbanked supplier, a stablecoin balance can be useful when the guide already uses digital dollars and agrees to be paid that way. It cannot be imposed, and in Ecuador crypto-assets are not an authorized means of payment in the local circuit. The alternative is whatever channel the supplier already has, outside Soulbit.
Does a stablecoin remove exchange-rate risk for an operator billing in dollars?
No. A dollar stablecoin holds its value against the dollar, but costs in soles or pesos keep moving. What it allows is choosing when to convert. Soulbit V1 offers conversion by quote on request, with no automatic conversion, and the operator picks the timing. Hedging, forward contracts and local-currency pricing are outside the product.
Where a stablecoin balance fits, and what Soulbit V1 does and does not do
A stablecoin balance fits for organizing and moving dollars between collections and payments, and it does not fit where the supplier or local regulation requires the national currency. Table 2 separates what Soulbit V1 does from what it does not in this case.
| Operator need | Covered by Soulbit V1? | How it is handled |
|---|---|---|
| Hold collected funds in USDC or USDT under institutional MPC custody | Yes | Stablecoin balance on the operator's side |
| Collect from agencies or customers that use USDC | Yes | Payment links and collection QR codes |
| Disburse prepayments to several suppliers in one batch | Yes | Bulk stablecoin payment disbursement |
| Convert to fiat when the operator decides | Yes | eOTC conversion by quote on request |
| Pay lodges and guides in Colombian pesos | Yes, Colombia only | Colombian local bank rail |
| Pay in soles or local currency in Peru, or over a rail in Ecuador | No | The supplier's banking channel, outside Soulbit |
| Manage bookings, issue invoices or calculate withholding | No | Booking system, accountant and tax authority |
| Automatic conversion, cards, yield or API integration | No | Not part of V1 |
Condor Trail can use the balance as a pass-through account in digital dollars between collection and payment, under institutional custody, and disburse in batches to suppliers that accept stablecoin or are paid in Colombia. For every other supplier, it keeps paying through its usual channel.
Frequently asked questions
Is this case based on a real Soulbit customer?
No. It is a composite, illustrative case. The company, its suppliers, the amounts, the payment terms and the seasons are all assumptions built to explain a tour operator's payment cycle. It reports no customer results and promises no savings or settlement times.
Can a hotel in Ecuador or Peru be paid in USDC?
Only if the hotel accepts it as a private agreement between the parties. In Ecuador, the central bank has stated that crypto-assets are not an authorized means of payment, and the local circuit stays in dollars through regulated channels. Soulbit V1 has no local bank rail in Ecuador or Peru, so each supplier handles the final step into local currency on its own.
Which parts of a tour operator's cycle does Soulbit V1 cover?
Soulbit V1 covers institutional custody of a USDC or USDT balance, batch disbursement to several suppliers, fiat conversion by quote on request, collection through payment links and QR codes and, in Colombia only, payment in pesos over a local bank rail. It does not manage bookings, issue invoices or calculate withholding.
Is currency risk a concern for an operator that bills in dollars?
It is in Peru and Colombia, where part of the cost is paid in soles and pesos. In Ecuador the cost is already in dollars, so there is no currency mismatch. A stablecoin does not remove the risk. It lets the operator hold dollars until payment day, and the decision to convert stays with the operator.
What happens to the balance if a traveler cancels?
It depends on each booking's terms and on what was already prepaid to each hotel. A confirmed USDC payment is irreversible, so a refund to the traveler is a new transaction that the operator must approve and record. Cancellation terms should be agreed in writing with travelers and with each supplier before any funds are advanced.
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