Quick answer: Tipping is not part of everyday life in Korea. Restaurants, taxis, cafés and shops do not expect it, and some upscale hotels add a service charge to the bill instead. The one place gratuities appear is the group file itself: many source markets are used to tipping the guide and driver, and that needs a policy agreed at quotation — either built into the package or collected by the tour leader against a published guideline — so that nobody is asked for money on the coach. Explera DMC Korea quotes gratuities as a separate, visible line when the agent wants them included, and briefs guides that soliciting is not acceptable.
What clients should know
- Restaurants and cafés: no tip. The price on the menu is what the table pays, and leaving cash on the table can cause confusion.
- Taxis: pay the meter. Rounding up is not expected.
- Hotels: upscale hotels may add a service charge to food and beverage bills. There is no custom of tipping housekeeping or porters, though it will rarely be refused if a guest insists.
- Spas and shops: no tip. A polite thank you in Korean does more than cash.
Where gratuities do come in: the group file
- Guides and drivers on group tours are the exception. Clients from many markets expect to show appreciation, and some programmes build it in.
- Decide the policy before the quote goes out. Either gratuities are included in the package price, or they are optional and collected by the tour leader against a guideline you publish.
- Write it in the booking conditions in one sentence, so the client knows before departure what is included and what is voluntary.
- Keep it off the coach microphone. A guide who asks for money on the road undermines the whole programme, and it is not how we operate.
Why it matters more than it looks
Low-cost group tours in the region have long recovered their margin through shopping stops and pressure for tips on the ground. Korea has tightened the rules on that model for inbound group operators, and clients who have travelled that way before arrive wary. A clear, printed gratuity policy is one of the simplest signals that your programme is not one of those tours.
It also protects the guide. A guide whose income depends on what the group decides to hand over at the end is under pressure to push; a guide paid properly and thanked through a known policy is free to guide.
What to put in the joining instructions
- One line on everyday tipping: not expected in restaurants, taxis or hotels.
- One line on guide and driver gratuities: included, or voluntary with your guideline.
- Who collects it, and when, if it is voluntary — usually the tour leader, on the last day.
- A note on cards: most payments in Korea are by card, so clients who want to give a voluntary gratuity should keep some cash for it.
Settled in the quote
Explera DMC Korea shows guide and driver gratuities as a separate line when the agent wants them included, pays guides and drivers properly whatever the policy, and briefs every guide that soliciting tips is not acceptable on our programmes.
Send your dates, pax and preferred gratuity policy to b2b@explera.kr or WhatsApp +66 93 656 8090. Explera DMC Korea is IATA TIDS-registered (96215733) and an ASTA member (#900408341); our KTO and KATA registrations are in application.
Where this fits in our Korea programmes
The pages below carry the operational detail behind this briefing.
- Services: Group travel & GIT in Korea · Guide services in Korea · Transportation & coaches in Korea
- Destinations: Seoul · Busan · Jeju
