While travel agencies look into performance-based bonuses for tour guides, anecdotal evidence suggests that efforts to get Chinese tourists to tip could prove tricky.
China's National Tourism Administration released on Aug 3 a guideline on protecting the rights of tour guides in the mainland, actively encouraging companies to introduce reward systems and for customers to pay gratuities.
Tang Bing, a senior official at the administration, said guides currently depend too much on the commission they earn from tourist shopping, which has triggered many disputes. A reward system would help diversify their income, he said.
Yet more than 88 percent of respondents to an online poll by Hainan Daily said they would not tip a tour guide, no matter how good the service was.
Guan Hongtao, a graduate student from Shaanxi province, said China just does not have the custom of tipping taxi drivers, waiters or tour guides. "Besides, I don't think tipping is going to improve the service quality of tour guides because the majority of them still need to make a profit from tourist shopping," the 25-year-old said.
Ctrip, the Chinese online travel agency, explored ways of encouraging tourists to pay tips in 2012. The company suggests tourists reward guides who provide satisfactory services between 20 and 50 yuan a day. However, it turned out only 20 to 30 percent of customers actually left a tip.
The system was scrapped in 2013 after the implementation of the Law on Tourism, which forbade tour guides to ask for tips from tourists.
Wei Lin, who works at a tourist agency in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said a tipping system could help to supervise standards.
"If no tourists want to tip a tour guide, that may mean the service is not good," Wei said. "If so, then a travel agency needs to improve that service."
Tuniu, another online travel service provider, has been rewarding tour guides based on reviews from tourists since May. So far, 57 staff members have been selected as "star" guides and have received bonuses of 1,000 yuan ($156).
In addition to giving out bonuses, Tuniu said it has also helped to promote its tour guides' personal brand. The company has published basic information for almost 300 guides on its mobile app and website, which is aimed at motivating workers to provide better services and give tourists greater choice.
"In the past, good tour guides have not received enough respect," Tuniu CEO Yu Dunde said. "Tourist reviews can push bad-performing guides out of the market. We're going to cover 3,000 guides with our review system and invest more than 10 million yuan to reward outstanding performers."
Luo Xianzhen, a tour guide from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said overall standards would naturally improve if guides did not have to rely so heavily on commissions from shopping to make a living.
"Tipping is a good way to diversify their income," Luo said. "When we have taken travel groups from overseas, they tip us in advance. We didn't have to worry about our income when showing them around and could be more devoted to doing our job as a guide."
