Tips on tipping while traveling
UC Economist discusses tip culture with Cincinnati Edition
It’s general consensus to tip service workers, like hotel maids, valet drivers and waiters, especially in the United States. But in the midst of travel season, there can be certain scenarios where it is hard to tell how to go about tipping.
WXVU’s Cincinnati Edition spoke with Erwin Erhardt, PhD, economics professor in UC’s Lindner College of Business for advice on navigating tip culture around the world.
“Especially when we go overseas, people are unsure whether to tip or not,” Erhardt told Cincinnati Edition. There are parts of the world where it is not customary to tip at all. “One thing I’ve noticed in Britain is that the service fee is on the bill, I’d say about 70 percent of the time now,” eliminating the need to tip, he added.
Erhardt also addressed scenarios where tips are an option, but there is no direct person the tip would go to. Many museums and cultural centers offer donation bins even without a tour or service offered. Cincinnati Edition raised the question of whether these types of tips actually benefit institutions.
“We’ve seen some changes in the worldwide economy going all the way back to 2008,” Erhardt said. “More institutions are more stressed than they used to be and they really do count on those extra donations to help keep the museum or cultural enterprise going.”
Hear the full conversation on WVXU.
Featured image at top of a tip jar. Photo/Unsplash.
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