A customer recently asked me about the rules regarding gratuities for tour guides. She was traveling to Europe and had pre-booked some tours through an online service. Stating that she felt she had paid “top dollar” for the tour and believed that a tip for the tour guide should be included in the total price, she was also not certain if that was correct.
Who To Tip
Most tour guides do not expect tips, but they do appreciate them. If a guide is working through a booking service they are probably making minimum wage and tips are a huge bonus. Guides who are self-employed receive the entire payment therefore, much like having the owner of a beauty salon doing your hair, you aren’t expected to tip them. A private tour guide with an agency is likely making better than minimum wage but would still very much appreciate the tip.
To Tip Or Not To Tip, That is the Question
How much is appropriate? Well, it’s not that simple. Let’s say you paid $50 for a three-hour walking tour with a small group of eight or fewer. If you loved the tour a 20% tip would be appropriate. If you thought it was just ok, maybe 15, 10, or even 5 percent tip seems reasonable. To clarify, that means per person in your group. If you thought it was awful let your conscience be your guide. It’s all subjective.
The point I really want to make here is, don’t assume because you paid what you believe to be a high price for a tour that you should not tip. One option is to ask the tour company if tips are included in the fee. If they say no, ask what is an appropriate tip. But first and foremost, do what you believe to be right.
Follow Your Instincts And Be Nice
As a professional in a service business, I sometimes receive tips. I never expect anything, but I do appreciate them. My goal is to provide the level of service I would expect. When someone tips me, I feel it means they recognize and appreciate me and my experience. I believe service people make the world go ’round. At the very least be kind and never assume anything.
Meanwhile, if you’re booking any upcoming tours please check out Take Walks. I am an affiliate and I love their tours. If you book through my link I’ll receive a small commission which will basically buy me a cup of coffee.
Here’s a short article in the New York Times about tipping.
Please feel free to comment or share your thoughts.
7 comments
loretta westbrookJune 9, 2018 at 9:18 am
for countries such as mine, ( NZ) tipping is not normal and so it seems unfair to have to give a lot more as tips after you have paid thousands for a tour. i can understand that this is built into the system because people are paid so miserably.
what really needs to happen is people get a living wage from their employer and costs are built into front charge for the tour, then no one feels cheated and it is all clear.
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Penny SadlerJune 10, 2018 at 1:48 pm
It certainly would make it easier!
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ChrissieMay 26, 2014 at 4:11 pm
Thanks Penny, the weird typos etc were coz I’m on the iPad!
I made it clear that the cellars we went to were really doing me a favour & they tasted top grand crus! In addition they left me with their wine exports to sort out. As you say, it’s really rude to leave nothing for the guide. The problem with tacking the equivalent if the tip onto the fee they pay for the day is that it’s taxed
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Penny SadlerMay 26, 2014 at 5:02 pm
I got the impression that this happens often, was that a wrong impression? Or was it only this one time? Either way, it blows to have to pay taxes on the money, but it beats not getting it at all. And then if you do get a tip on top of that – bonus!
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ChrissieMay 26, 2014 at 3:05 pm
I am a tour guide in a famous french wine region. In comparison with other guides here my prices are very reasinable and I put my heart & soul into my tours and I am extremely knowledgeable. I have quite a lot of wealthy people on my tours who buy cases of wine to be sent back to he US and I get them into amazing wine estates, but more often than not they leave no tip whatsoever after having flashed their cash all day long buying wine etc. Today I came home very dispirited as I had worked extremely hard putting a tour together for an american family of four, & worked 90 minutes over my time so i was working 91/2 hours with them – not a penny! Surely they see how hard I worked & how much effort goes into the tour! It’s the height of stinginess… to get a wadge of cash out to pay for the tour & just take the exact amount. I have now decided to put my prices up to cover a 20% tip ( which I rarely get). My are american wel off people so mean?
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Penny SadlerMay 26, 2014 at 3:55 pm
That sounds rude! I can’t speak for wealthy Americans, but I think it’s a good idea to include your tip in the service fee, especially if you’re price is already a bit lower than your competitors. If I can make a recommendation or two, when you do an extra service for someone that you’d like to be compensated for, be sure to let them know that you’re doing them a favor, otherwise most people will not be appreciative. Or tell them up front I can do this for you and my fee is an additional – whatever you think it’s worth. That may not be the way you would do it with French customers, but believe me, Americans will understand this. I think many people are confused about tours and how to handle tipping which is why I wrote this. I hope this is helpful and would be interested to hear how you get on.
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CharlotteMay 24, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Not all Americans are wealthy. I know for me, years of saving provided the trip. The last trip I took was to New Zealand and Australia; they lost my luggage on the first leg of a 31 day trip. We had purchased travel insurance…guess what, it didn’t cover any losses. That was back in 2007. I haven’t been on an overseas trip since. The tour group said all tips were covered. They weren’t.
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