You finally launched that bold new international expansion for your business. After months of planning, countless compliance checklists, and a seemingly endless loop of legal reviews, your travel or hospitality platform is ready to go live in new markets.

But then, a surprise regulatory roadblock. A payment partner pulls out. Or worse, local authorities flag your business for non-compliance.

Why is global growth so risky? What makes it so complex for travel and hospitality brands? And how do you protect your business without halting your business expansion endeavours?

Let’s unpack the hidden friction points and explore how the right Merchant of Record (MoR) model can cut risk, simplify operations, and keep your guests booking without a hitch.

The hidden risk of global expansion

Expanding a travel or hospitality business across borders sounds like an excellent idea that can unlock more opportunities for your business. New markets mean more bookings, more brand recognition, and more revenue opportunities. But it also means dealing with:

• Ever-changing tax and compliance laws

• Foreign currency exchange complications

• Local consumer protection regulations

• Multiple payment methods and fraud risks

• Liability is tied to the buyer-seller relationship

Without the right systems in place, each new region you enter adds a fresh layer of complexity. Suddenly, your internal team is swamped with administrative tasks from tax registration to chargeback management, which requires a substantial amount of time and distracts your team from what actually drives customer satisfaction and experience, making the possibility of growth chaotic and unattainable.

What makes Travel & Hospitality so operationally complex?

The global travel and hospitality sector is roaring back to life. After weathering the pandemic slump, it's now on a steep rebound, with the industry projected to surpass $1.03 trillion in value by 2027. A growing middle class, remote work flexibility, and a renewed hunger for experiences are driving demand across both leisure and business travel.

But as exciting as the growth is, expanding your business in this dynamic space comes with serious operational and regulatory risk, especially for businesses operating across multiple regions.

Here are a few of the biggest challenges facing travel and hospitality businesses today:

1. Complex Tax and Regulatory Frameworks

Selling hotel rooms, vacation packages, flights, or tour experiences across borders means navigating a tangled web of local tax laws, including VAT, tourist levies, eco-taxes, and digital service taxes. Each country (and often each city or region) plays by its own rules. Missteps can result in fines, booking restrictions, or even temporary bans from operating.

2. Payment & Payout Friction

Travelers want smooth payments in their own currency using local methods. Meanwhile, hosts and hotel partners expect timely payouts; failed transactions, chargebacks, and delays are not just financial headaches; they can also damage trust.

3. Regulatory & Licensing Complexity

This industry is deeply regulated. You might need local licenses to operate accommodation, offer tours, or run transport services, and each region has its own consumer protection laws, refund mandates, and booking disclosure rules. Expanding without localized knowledge creates risk and slows down market entry.

4. Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Travel platforms collect highly sensitive information — from passport numbers and credit card details to personal preferences and travel plans. A single breach can cost millions in fines and irreparable damage to customer trust. With global privacy laws like GDPR, POPIA, and CCPA, compliance is non-negotiable.

That’s where a streamlined solution like the Merchant of Record (MoR) model comes in, handling the operational heavy lifting so your team can stay focused on growth and customer experience.

What Is a Merchant of Record (MoR)?

A Merchant of Record is the legal entity responsible for processing payments and handling all the associated responsibilities: tax, compliance, currency, payment method acceptance, and fraud protection.

When you use an MoR, your company offloads the burdens of:

• Managing sales tax/VAT/GST in every region

• Ensuring compliance with local laws

• Navigating banking and card network rules

• Handling disputes, chargebacks, and refunds

• Issuing receipts and maintaining financial records

When you use a Merchant of Record (MoR), you're outsourcing the legal and financial responsibility to a third party. So even though the customer is interacting with your business, the actual sale, from a legal, tax, and compliance perspective, is processed by the MoR platform.

Think of it like this: you run the front-end experience (the website, bookings, services), and the MoR quietly runs the back-end international operations layer so you can sell globally without setting up legal entities, hiring local accountants, or managing regulatory risk in each country you want to expand your business to.

Why Travel & Hospitality Brands Need MoR Support

This model isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic necessity in a global-first industry like travel and hospitality. Here’s why:

1. You Minimize Compliance Risk

Each country has its own regulatory landscape, and travel is heavily scrutinized. From local accommodation taxes to dynamic pricing rules and consumer protection laws, the stakes are high. MoR providers have the infrastructure to monitor and adapt to these changes, shielding your business from fines or shutdowns.

2. You Simplify Multi-Currency Payments

Customers want to pay in their own currency, with their preferred local method — whether that’s in ZAR, NGN, or in USDT. An MoR helps you accept all of them while eliminating the complexity of setting up dozens of banking relationships.

3. You Protect Your Business from Payment Failures

Failed transactions and chargebacks aren’t just operational headaches, they build distrust in your customers. An MoR handles payment authorization, fraud checks, and risk scoring, improving success rates and giving customers a smoother booking experience.

4. You Free Up Internal Resources

Instead of spreading your legal, finance, and operations teams thin, you hand off core operational challenges. That means your team can focus on scaling experiences, not navigating tax law in five different time zones.

MoR in Action: Real-World Impact

Imagine a travel booking platform expanding into different countries, Instead of registering a local entity in five countries, setting up five tax codes, five new bank accounts, and running fraud protection manually across five time zones, they use a Merchant of Record like Startbutton to make operations seamless.

The result?

• Faster market entry

• Fewer compliance headaches

• Reduced operational overhead

• Seamless booking for global customers

Whether you’re a boutique hotel chain, a luxury tour operator, or a digital booking platform, the model works across the board.

The travel and hospitality sector thrives on growth, but growth comes with serious operational risk. The right MoR partner becomes a strategic lever, not just a technical solution.

You get to focus on what you do best: creating unforgettable experiences. Your MoR platform handles the behind-the-scenes chaos.

Ready to grow globally without the paperwork?
Start exploring MoR solutions like Startbutton built for travel and hospitality which helps you to cut risk before it cuts into your revenue.

Why Startbutton Is the MoR Built for Travel & Hospitality

At Startbutton, we specialize in making cross-border expansion simple, compliant, and fast, without the legal and financial bottlenecks. Our MoR platform is tailored for travel and hospitality businesses, helping you launch in Ghana and 14 other African markets without setting up local entities. From handling tax compliance to managing multi-currency payments and local regulations, Startbutton takes on the heavy lifting so you can stay focused on bookings, guest experience, and growth. 

Got questions about expanding your business to other countries through Startbutton?
Talk to us at sales@startbutton.africa or sign up here