Poor sums and ignorance of regional etiquette leave British tourists out of pocket.

Airport news for Flights,Travel on 03/05/2010.

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Thousands of British holidaymakers are tipping too much when they travel, says a travel-industry survey. Research conducted by leading online travel bookers Expedia.co.uk shows that most Brits have no idea about how much to tip when they travel abroad.

The survey of 2,918 people conducted last month found that 78 per cent of those surveyed admitted they have no idea about local tipping etiquette when they travel. A quarter of respondents said they felt pressured to tip while on holiday. A third said they leave a standard ten per cent tip. Five per cent leave whatever loose change is in their pockets.

Jonathon Cudworth, director of product management at Expedia says, “Whether you agree with it or not, there’s local etiquette with a host of unspoken rules in almost every country you visit.” These rules vary so much between countries, “...it’s no wonder tourists are left confused and often compensate by over-spending,” said Cudworth.

The problem is compounded by weak arithmetic skills. Forty-two percent of those surveyed said they spent too much on service, mostly because they couldn’t accurately calculate exchange rates and percentages. Many struggle with basic addition and subtraction tasks.

Expedia’s marketing managers have collected some top pointers on tipping abroad. In the Middle East and the USA, good tips are seen as a way to cultivate preferential treatment on future visits. Germans leave reduced tips (less than ten per cent) to indicate displeasure as the lack of a tip can be construed as simple forgetfulness. Tips are not expected in Hong Kong and Singapore. In Australia, tip only in restaurants. Service is automatically included in Italy. In Thailand, never leave less than 20 baht.

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