what’s strange about that? obviously not every single traveller is going to be scammed. But in some places it’s 1 in 10 and in others 1 in 1000?

No. If you hire someone as an employee, you’ll have to pay social security contribution for them and most likely will be regarded as having a subsidiary in that country.

It kind of sounds like you want the best of both worlds (reliability of an employee, but the flexibility of a freelancer). The only option I see is to go through an agency or a regular company.

Can you even give the freelancer enough work to drop all other clients? But keep in mind that in many EU countries, there is something like false employment (when a freelancer only has one client) that can get you in trouble as the employer as well.

PS: save the money for the super expensive consultant.