Helping the Local Economy When You Travel

When I travel, I like to make sure I visit local businesses and restaurants, so my tourist dollars go where they are needed most. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons why your money may not stay local. This concept has been dubbed tourism leakage, which sounds kinda gross, but there's not too many better names for it, because your dollars, literally, leak out of the local economy.

Most of your travel budget is going to go to big things, like airfare and accommodations, and you can't possibly...