The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now underway, with fans who are coming from all over the world to the 16 North American cities (including Toronto and Vancouver) hosting a record 48 teams.
This international event presents an interesting cultural challenge for hospitality workers. Millions of visitors are expected to arrive from countries where tipping practices differ significantly from North American norms.
Restaurants, hotels, bars, taxis and other tourism businesses should anticipate that many international visitors may tip less than local customers or even not tip at all — not because they are dissatisfied with service, but because they are following the social norms of their home countries.
As a hospitality management professor who has lived and worked in Europe, the United States and Canada, I have always been interested in how cultural differences affect service management and consumer behaviour.
Tipping fatigue
Much has been written in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. about tipping fatigue in the last couple of years. In fact, a recent survey found two-thirds of Canadians believe the practice should be abolished.
Recent research helps explain why people are increasingly uncomfortable with the practice. Part of the problem is the rise in gratuity requests from businesses that historically haven’t asked for tips, along with so-called “tipflation.” Tip prompts on digital devices can now suggest 25 per cent or more.
Read more:
A tip too far? Why tip fatigue may be setting in for North Americans
Despite provincial labour laws generally providing stronger wage protections than many U.S. or Mexican states, tipping remains deeply embedded in Canada’s service economy, with expectations ranging now from 15 to 25 per cent and growing.
By contrast, in many other countries service charges are built directly into the bill, and workers are paid living wages that don’t depend on extra gratuities. Visitors from these countries may see additional tipping as unnecessary, confusing or even inappropriate.
Tipping practices differ across cultures
Tipping originated in Europe before crossing the Atlantic. In North America, the practice has historical ties to slavery and remains, today, tainted by racism and sexism. It is prevalent in low-wage sectors where the workforce is often composed of racialized people and women.
But tipping is not a universal practice. Researchers generally view tipping as a cultural institution that reflects local labour systems, social values and expectations about service work. Around the world, a tip is not necessarily a reflection of someone’s wealth, the quality of service or the food. In other words, people tend to tip in order to conform to the social norms of their own culture.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Timothy Matwey
Even within Europe, between northern and southern countries for example, there are significant differences in tipping practices.
Refusing to tip in North America, or leaving small change, is treated as a breach of an unwritten social rule and often draws disapproval from workers, plus social pressure from family and friends.
Studies of American tourists have found that those who tip more often at home tend to do the same while travelling abroad. Some are even concerned that the U.S. tipping culture could be spreading overseas, as it did in Mexico. Conversely, tourists from cultures where tipping is uncommon or limited are unlikely to tip much in North America.
What should hospitality workers expect?
Workers should understand that a low tip from international tourists doesn’t necessarily reflect poor perceptions of service or food quality. It is normal for many visitors not to tip, or to leave only round-up change. Hospitality workers should generally expect:
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Lower or no tips from some international visitors. Fans travelling from much of Asia and Europe come from cultures where tipping is rare, optional or even considered offensive.
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Modest tips from European and South American visitors. They are less likely to calculate a percentage and may simply round up, with five to 10 per cent closer to their cultural norm.
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Tip-savvy visitors from the U.S., Mexico, West Asian countries and parts of Africa, where gratuity culture is already practiced.
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Confusion at electronic tip prompts. Many international visitors will encounter North American-style tip screens — showing 18 per cent, 25 per cent or custom options — for the first time and won’t understand the expectation behind them. For many, a 20 per cent tip will seem excessive.
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Possible frustration among workers when training is limited and unfamiliar behaviour gets read through their own cultural lens. Staff accustomed to 20 per cent tips may perceive some international visitors as rude, cheap or ungrateful.
How to reduce the tensions
Managers and front-line staff can ease tip-related friction, and the World Cup offers an opportunity for proactive communication.
Hospitality businesses could provide multilingual information about local tipping customs, include explanations in visitor guides, train employees in intercultural service expectations, clarify when service charges are already included, and above all, avoid blaming and ridiculing foreign visitors for low tips.
People and their cultural norms can evolve over time. The current wave of tipping fatigue, combined with the influence of visiting practices from around the world, may provide the incentive needed to revisit the tipping debate and change it. Or, conversely, North America’s “out of control tipping habits” may simply continue to spread abroad.
A useful starting point is the idea that it’s the employer’s obligation to pay a reasonable wage, not the customer’s duty to make up the difference.
Hospitality workers should be paid above minimum wage and shouldn’t have to rely on customer gratuities to make a living. There is a need for a broad conversation about hospitality compensation. Workers, owners and academics should be part of it.
