Service & Tips on Tobago

The topic of tips is handled very differently around the world – find out how you value good service at Tobago.

If this form of donation is an important and self-evident source of income in some countries, it can be seen as an insult in other cultures. Reason enough to deal with this point a little.

Employees of Tobago’s service staff receive approx. 15 TT$ per hour, i.e. approx. 1.50 EUR – with normal working hours this corresponds to approx. 70 EURO / week. There is therefore a certain dependence on tips to cover the costs for one month. Nevertheless, the amount should be added with a sense of proportion in order to avoid an unintentionally humiliating character.

The people of Tobago are warm hosts. Their history makes them proud and vulnerable at the same time – visitors should therefore take the sensitivities into consideration. For some service employees, it is a fluid boundary between “service” and “servitude”. It should therefore be absolutely avoided to give the impression that one “buys” the human being. If tips are rejected, please avoid asking about the reason. This is the exception to the rule, but can occur. In addition to emotional injury, it also happens that benefits are rejected because the employee simply loves his job and likes to serve it.

In most hotels a service charge of 10% is included in the invoice. How much of this is actually passed on to the employees can unfortunately not be reconstructed….. If you have received good service, a (further) tip of approx. 20-30TT$ is appropriate. This doesn’t hurt her wallet and makes the service force happy. If you stay in a hotel or other accommodation with room service, a contribution of approx. 5 TT$ per day is appropriate.

If the invoice for a restaurant obviously does not include a service charge, you should discreetly send approx. 10% of the invoice amount directly to the service personnel. When paying by credit card, the amount can also be added to the invoice – but remember that there is not always a fair transfer to the employees.

For taxi drivers, the surcharge should depend on the distance and the service. From the airport, about 5 EUR per 15 minutes driving time is appropriate. In the area around the airport 1-2 EUR are sufficient.

Basically, the procedure hardly differs from the habits in Central Europe – simply reward good service in an appropriate way.