A commission is not automatically a scam.

That is where I start this conversation, because otherwise people stop listening before we have explained anything.

I distinguish between Jaaba and Passage: referral income earned through a connection on the road, and commercial arrangements made further up the chain, before a tour even leaves.

Those words can make a conversation uncomfortable. But pretending money only changes hands when somebody books a tour does not help us understand how the experience works.

A recommendation has value

A driver, guide or tour leader spends time with the travelers. They answer questions, manage small problems and connect people with places, activities and services.

If someone recommends an activity that suits a guest, the guest chooses freely, and the supplier pays a referral, I do not think the existence of that payment tells us the whole story.

Was the recommendation useful? Was the price fair? Could the person say no? Was the experience worth doing?

Those questions matter more than acting shocked that a referral has a commercial value.

I use Jaaba for that road-level connection. That does not give every transaction a certificate of good behavior.

Sometimes the stop was chosen before you met the driver

Passage involves arrangements made before the travelers meet the person taking them on the road.

An agency that sends regular departures can bring restaurants, shops and activity providers a regular flow of visitors. Commercial arrangements can form around that traffic.

A stop may therefore already be part of the operating plan. The driver did not necessarily choose it. Blaming whoever happens to be holding the steering wheel can miss the decision that was made elsewhere.

This does not mean every agency has the same arrangements, or every planned stop is a bad one. It means we need to ask who chose the stop, why it was chosen and what the traveler gets from it.

The problem starts when the incentive becomes the itinerary

My objection is to an experience built around extracting money from the client.

When the most profitable stop takes priority over the most suitable one, something has changed. When an optional visit feels compulsory, something has changed. When saying no makes the rest of the day uncomfortable, something has definitely changed.

The guest may not know the arrangements behind the scenes. They still feel the pressure.

A useful recommendation should survive a simple test: would I still be comfortable explaining this choice to the person paying for the trip?

Underpricing does not make the costs disappear

Selling a tour too cheaply does not make its costs disappear. The pressure moves through the system. The vehicle still needs fuel. People still need to earn a living. A supplier still has costs.

If the advertised price leaves too little room, extra spending on the road can start carrying too much of the business model. That is my criticism of the incentives, not a claim that every inexpensive tour works this way.

I want tourism to make money. Agencies, drivers, guides and suppliers should be able to earn properly. But the service the traveler bought should remain the reason for the journey.

I explore the human side of that pressure in You Cannot Build Good Tourism on Exhausted People.

A commission can follow a good experience. It should not be the person secretly directing it.