Tipping Tour Guides in Italy? (I know this topic is a bit worn out...)

About the same. Nothing has changed. Some do, some don't. I do about 10% if it is a good tour.

The standard is zero.

Why would you pay more? You agreed a price, you pay that price.
10% more for what? For having a college degree and working in a regulated market? I'm ignorant as a goat and I'm subject to competition, why nobody gives me a 10% tip under the table that lets me cheat on taxes? It's not fair !

I think more people would know what to do if we knew how much the salaries of different jobs. Is the tour guide getting a great salary? Who knows? I’ve read waiters make a nice salary in Italy, so we don’t tip. The tour guides we’ve had have been so enthusiastic and made our trip richer. If I knew they were making a great salary, perhaps we wouldn’t.

Since we don’t know, we ere on the more generous side just in case. I can tell you from the tours we took, about 30% - 40% gave some sort of tip.. We gave 20%. I felt it was too much, but DH has always been a nice tipper. I would have done 10 - 15%, rounded up and been fine.

Here is the problem--there is so much mixed information out there. Walks of Italy in their FAQ says:

Should I tip my guide?

It’s really up to you. If you enjoyed your tour and feel like you received exemplary service from your guide, it is customary to leave a tip at the end of the tour. It’s not obligatory though and we won’t hold it against you if you don’t – nor will your guide.

From ArtViva:
Is it appropriate to tip your guides?

If you enjoyed your tour and would like to give your guide a token of appreciation, tips are happily accepted. When asked, the office staff recommends whatever amount you feel comfortable with giving.

So there is a constant refrain on here of you don't tip your tour guide, while the tour companies in Italy suggest otherwise. No wonder there is so much confusion from would-be travelers.

Not surprisingly the site of the Italian Lawyers Bar says the same thing: "Please feel free to tip our secretaries and practictioners so we can lower their monthly wages".
Unfortunately, since Italian lawyers have mostly Italian customers it doesn't work. Of course they try, How many employers wouldn't love a system that make labour costs variable and makes these costs become a customers' responsibility depending on the customers' mood and the workers' boobs?
The problem is that any time you make things easier for tax cheaters I pay more taxes. Not "in the long run", or "maybe some day": any given f. 16th day of the month I pay mine and tax cheaters' taxes to keep an universal health care system working.

On my last trip to Italy, I took three different tours and all were excellent. Two were 3 hour tours and one was an all day excursion . I tipped 5 euro for each. To me, that was like buying the guide a drink or a cup of coffee as a thank you. About half the people seemed to do that.

I think the term "tour guide" is wide ranging. If I am approached at a Site and a person offers to be my guide and we agree on a price, no need to tip. If I book some standard tour as a group and it is moderate to low cost, the tour guide is great, then if the rest of the group is chipping in a couple euro, I might as well. If I show up for one of those "Free" city tours, and it is good, then I always hand over at least a few euro...as is expected...nothing is "Free".

@Dario. The USA system of tipping is a cultural thing. Undoubtably the only way in the USA to get service industry workers to perform and get acceptable levels of service is to tip. Obviously, the professional worker, like yourself, doesn’t work that way there or most other places. Bribery is the normal way.

If a tourist from the USA feels they need to follow their cultural training when they leave home and bring it to your country, let them do it. If they are trained to overpay for basic service in our countries, let them do it. Makes them feel good and useful. Take their money and largesse in any form and it will help to reduce your countries trade and budget deficits while increasing those of the USA.
Your protestations are pointless, take the cash and run.

Regards Ron

Ron, do you really think that any of your words can make me Happy of paying more taxes because americans can't Just Do what they are told? Seriously?

As a side note, some of you might be interested in where the American custom of tipping came from. (Hint: it didn't originate here.)

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/11/30/457125740/when-tipping-was-considered-deeply-un-american

I think what Dario means is that if people keep tipping, companies reduce wages that are taxable, so that employees make up the gap with tips (not taxable because they are variable and not reported). This makes it so that salaried employees end up paying all of the taxes, and people in service industry could potentially make more money, and in addition avoid paying any significant amount in taxes. So fewer people paying the taxes to keep government services going. His point is, Italy has a system where pay is fair for service industry, but if people keep insisting on tipping, then things might change for the worse, for most Italians (and probably for tourists in the long run as well).

They need to keep the tipping advice out of tour websites like Walks of Italy then? It confuses people.

@ Dario. Fratello Dario I unreservedly apologise to you. It was not my intention to make you unhappy or get you angry with me. The encouraging of tax avoidance is irreprehensible. It is not good for our countries tax collection systems.

As I see it some USA citizens will continue to bring their customs with them without considering the effect on our countries. That change will only come from within their country. I honestly don’t see how.

It seems to me that much of the discussion on this topic is usually between some USA citizens arguing that they must tip, (noblesse oblige, or cultural) and those who respect your countries requests not to. I suspect, if was to go to USA and not tip, everyone would consider it an insult. So, I would probably tip.

Sometimes the application of pragmatism can be useful. For example, the tour guide gets €100. Doesn’t pay income tax. He/she is likely to be on low income and needs to spend the lot. At end of tour spends the monies on alcohol, some clothes, packaged supermarket food, fuel for the vespa, church donation and maybe a pizza. Most of this expenditure will/should result in some type of tax collection.

If in 2018, 5.7 Million USA citizens probably tipped/donated at least €100 each = €570 Mil extra into your economy. Apply the multiplier effect and extra tax is collected that would otherwise not have occurred, and the tippers have unwittingly contributed to your very good universal health system. I just love that.

But, not the ideal way.

We needed to use the Italian health system in 2018 when my wife fell and cracked 4 ribs. The system was easily accessible, professional, latest equipment and not expensive.

Dario, mate, I apologise again. I am in your beautiful country from early August until mid-October and would be honoured if you would let me buy you a beer or two.

Regards
Ron

I work as a guide and tour leader, mostly with foreigner visitors. Honestly I don't like the tipping system. First of all it born in Europe when workers where used like slaves (the servants, in France and UK, not really paid but tipped), so a strong tipping system make me feel to be considered not as a professional, but only a servant (if not worst).
Of course if a tourist give me a tip I accept it, but mainly when is really a tip (offer me a beer, some euros or the groups offering me the lunch...). Sometimes I felt really uncomfortable with some tips, in my opinion too high.
I am agree with the words of Dario. Is true that is a black market. In fact there are guides who want to work only with Americans, Australian and English tourists: because are the ones whom give high tips and you pay no taxes on it. Say that is an indirect income for the country is true, but the same excuse could be used for any kind of illegal business (drug, prostitution...): so is something "risky".
Another point is that is not cultural in the most of Italy. A little bit in southern Italy there is the culture to tip in the restaurants, but nowhere else. In northern Italy nobody leave a tip in a restaurant or to a guide.
There is even another point to keep in mind: very often you are tipping only the "point of the iceberg". A service run fine not only thanks to the final person (the guide, the waiter) but thanks to anybody else is working under the curtain. In a restaurant the service is perfect and on time not because the waiter is good, but because the whole staff is doing perfectly his job: the cookers are perfectly synchronized, the chef is cooking fine, the dish washer has prepared all dishes when required and perfectly cleaned. A team makes the service fine. How many people go in the kitchen to tip everybody? (I know: sometimes you tip the restaurant and tips are shared, and this is a much better system, even if waiters don't like it). In a tour is the same. How many tip the guys who prepare the radio equipment? Guys whom stay the whole day running to and fro the city, prepare the radio at the right frequency, wait the group under the rain even if they are late? In winter is a very bad part of the touristic job...
Probably I am too much left-winged, but I still believe that a fair salary is much better than a tip.
And the free (but not free) tours are even worst, because they are really 100% black market (in fact I don't know yet any of them 100% legal).