Tour Manager Tips

No experience, but this amount sounds reasonable to me.

It might depend on where the tour takes place. In India we learned tips formed the great proportion of wages. Similar in `Egypt.

If I was younger, I would train to be a Tour Guide. £2000 per week - wow !!!

Sounds like a great job, to me it doesn’t matter what he earns, its none of my business and a £5 tip seems reasonable.

I don't tip anyone.

That sounds a lot to me, 40 people tipping £40. I did a uk trip recently and the driver and host were good, it was 6 days, in the UK, I gave them both £10 each. I normally give £5. each for 5 days. When I though about it later I thought 52 passengers at £10 each is too much an extra £520 tax free cash on top if their wages.

...an extra £520 tax free cash on top if their wages.

Not necessarily.
When my son worked in a cocktail bar/nightclub, his tax code included an amount that HMRC had decided he would be receiving in tips, and taxed him accordingly.
The onus was on him to keep accurate records and dispute this if it wasn't the case.

Our trip literature includes that suggestion too. £5 - 7 per person per day works out at £50 for us. We will take that much in cash, in an unsealed envelope, and see how we feel at the end of the trip. We thought it sounded an awful lot.

We have done coach tours, both here and overseas.

The long haul ones have been for two-three weeks, and the company are keen to suggest how much to tip.

We tipped what we thought was appropriate, regardless of suggestions. Some tour managers much better than others, and the tips reflected this. Put the money in an envelope and handed it over as we said our farewells.

Remember after one trip, sitting in the airport and seeing our tour guide, thinking no one was there, ripping open the envelopes and having a count up.

That’s exactly what we are going to do kitty . And yes it does seem excessive. We have the tour chap and the river cruise staff - so it works out to quite a lot! What with that and paying a lady to come in twice a day for our little stray cat😮😮.

That seems excessive on top of the cost of the holiday.
It makes me quite happy not to be going on holidays anymore.

I don't know. Holidays are expensive and if I'm forking out for one I expect any staff involved to be paid already. I note several travel companies understand this and absolutely no extra expenses are now expected. These are for European holidays. I know staff are paid differently in America but we are not going there.

Iam64

It might depend on where the tour takes place. In India we learned tips formed the great proportion of wages. Similar in `Egypt.

Yes, I agree. When travelling to countries such as India and Egypt, it's very different. But I'm referring to British tour guides, who I assume already get paid for doing their job? Don't they?

We are going for 4/5 days in the UK. I imagine she will be paid for doing her job.

Don't forget they are often self employed and so would have to pay tax and insurance out of their earnings.

Many years ago we were on a tour. One particular day we had been about half an hour in the coach when the tour guide suggested we needed to stop for a rest, we all said no carry on. He insisted we needed to get out and stretch our legs. The whole coach said no again and refused to leave the coach. We were finally persuaded when we were told, he had to have his company card stamped by the shop to say we had visited it. He also got a percentage on the goods sold.

I've just looked up what tour guide jobs are paying at the moment - here's so info for jobs advertised today:

£12.21 an hour for a Friday Saturday Sunday job

Another one - Part-time. Pay: £12.21 per hour

Another - 10 – 20 hours per week £12.21 per hour

Part time driver and guide £15

Experienced and customer-focused  PCV Driver-Guides  (PVC D or D1) £35,000 -£45,000 pa then small print "part time", 0 hours contract

One specifically mentions "Tips" as a perk and offers a full week of driving but you need to train ip to drive and guide.
You can have fixed hours, or, For those who prefer to earn higher wages by working more and flexible days, these is also a banked hours scheme which can be signed up to.
Pay £14.50 per hour.

NotSpaghetti

I've just looked up what tour guide jobs are paying at the moment - here's so info for jobs advertised today:

£12.21 an hour for a Friday Saturday Sunday job

Another one - Part-time. Pay: £12.21 per hour

Another - 10 – 20 hours per week £12.21 per hour

Part time driver and guide £15

Experienced and customer-focused  PCV Driver-Guides  (PVC D or D1) £35,000 -£45,000 pa then small print "part time", 0 hours contract

One specifically mentions "Tips" as a perk and offers a full week of driving but you need to train ip to drive and guide.
You can have fixed hours, or, For those who prefer to earn higher wages by working more and flexible days, these is also a banked hours scheme which can be signed up to.
Pay £14.50 per hour.

Thanks - that's really useful. I wonder if guides get paid for 24 hour days if they are permanently 'on call' during the time they are with the group? I think coach drivers these days definitely deserve a tip!

I've never been on a tour trip so no experience but for a 5 day trip in the UK I would have thought £10 for the guide and the same for the driver. If either were exceptionally good then I would give £20.
If the trip was abroad or in a particularly 'difficult' country then I would tip much more.
Perhaps I'm just cheap.

Elowen33

You do realise that the tip quoted was £5-£7 per person per day? Not just £5.
.

But why tip at all when they are doing the job they are employed (and paid) to do ?

I don't often give tips. I'm not tight but in 40 years of working I was never given a tip for getting a letter typed and sent out quickly, or for making sure the filing was up to date so that client information was availablewhen needed, or ensuring my boss attended an important meeting that I had spent several days trying to coordinate. If a service is excegood I might leave something.

I think in hospitality there are often tips.

And I'd tip serving staff in a restaurant, porter / maid in a hotel, a bartender, taxi driver or shoe-shine person (if there was one).

I have tipped a concierge in the past when he was really helpful and also once tipped the guy on the door when we left a hotel as he was relentlessly cheerful and "made my day", every day.

I have also been back to shops later with small thank-yous.
Small bunch of flowers to a fabric shop, biscuits to a tailor, huge box of very lovely different hand creams to an ICU ward staff, basket of fruit to university technicians...

Sometimes it's really lovely to let people know you appreciate them.

If you don't feel able to tip for financial reasons you could write him/her a very nice note about their skills and how they added to your happiness over the trip?
It's always lovely to receive some thoughtful words.

(One of my sons tips just about everyone it seems to me... and is very generous. - but I'm not sure he really thinks deeply about it at all!)

Grannyjacq1 I think they might have a "sleeping nights" rate of a few pounds if not woken to deal with anything.

Only guessing of course!