The (often tiresome) topic of tipping
One of the most common questions we get asked is, ‘Do you tip in Morocco, and if so, how much?’ The answer is: it depends!
In general, you don’t have to tip. But you can, especially if the service was really good. However, you should always stay within reason and base your tip on local customs rather than what you would give at home. This only creates extreme expectations that are not always met.
If a coffee costs only 7 DH, you should not round up to 20 DH. Instead, add 1 DH. However, it is also fine to simply pay the amount. When eating out, if the bill is higher, you can round up. In better restaurants, you can also tip 10%. But please do not tip 30% or more as is customary in the United States.
The average salary in Morocco is just over €300 per month. Of course, you are welcome to supplement this with a tip, but it does not necessarily have to be doubled. It is better to campaign for people to be paid better overall. For example, by not booking tours at dumping prices.
Here are the professional groups that you can tip on a trip through Morocco:
If, for example, you take a half-day tour with a guide in Marrakesh and you enjoyed it, then you should give a tip. Depending on the size of the group, 50-100 DH is a good tip. If it was really outstanding, feel free to give a little more.
If you go on a tour of Morocco with a driver lasting several days, you should also tip them. For a private tour with 2-4 people lasting 3-5 days, 100-150 DH per day from the group as a whole is appropriate. If the group is larger, each person could give 20 DH per day, for example.
You don’t need to tip for a camel ride to the camp in the evening, but if you really want to, 10-20 DH is very generous. On our longer camel trekking tours, our camel men work much harder and are definitely happy to receive a tip. Here, 50-100 DH per day is a good tip.
As we always have a cook with us on our trekking tours who takes really good care of us, he also deserve a tip. Similar to the camel man, 50-100 DH per day is appropriate.
In hotels, you can tip 20-50 DH per day, especially if dinner is included.
Under no circumstances should you tip in taxis, as tourists already pay significantly more than usual. And if you ‘get lost’ and someone ‘shows you the right way’ (a common scam in the medina, especially in Fez but also occasionally in Marrakesh), you should not reward this behaviour with money but threaten to call the tourist police.
