I was born in Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. Other than a decade when I worked and studied in the US and England, I have always lived here.
When I was growing up, Sardinia was not on the international tourism radar. Cagliari was overlooked by tourists, and the only foreigners who spent their holidays on the island were German, Austrian, or Swiss families who came for the beaches, but never stopped in towns or cities.
That is no longer the case: Sardinia now welcomes more than 5 million visitors per year, a number that has almost doubled in the past decade, with foreign tourists now outnumbering Italian holidaymakers.
Part of the appeal of a holiday here – beyond the idyllic beaches, mountain villages and Bronze Age ruins – is the cuisine. There’s bottarga, porceddu, culurgiones pasta, fresh fish, and of course wine. Cagliari alone is stuffed with dozens of great places to try our local produce.
I share tips on my travel website Strictly Sardinia, and Facebook community, guiding visitors to authentic experiences and showcasing our culture, identity, and environment.
Recently, someone asked whether he should use US dollars or euros during his trip. Setting him straight, I added that tipping isn’t customary anywhere in Italy.
That’s because an insidious custom has arrived in Sardinia – tipping. And it’s not always small change. Sometimes it’s €10, but occasionally it’s much more. One restaurant owner in Cagliari told me that some customers spent €250 on dinner and left a €400 tip.
When we eat out in Sardinia, we don’t calculate 15, 20, or even 30 per cent on top of the bill. Card readers don’t give you the option to leave a tip, either. The only rare exception might be to round up a bill by a couple of euros when paying cash. Unlike in the US, failing to leave a tip is not considered outrageous.
There is no social expectation that a customer should supplement a waiter’s income. When North American tourists (and it is mostly Americans, according to restaurants such as Dal Pittore in Cagliari) bring their tipping culture on holiday with them, it’s not necessarily welcome.
Restaurant workers in Sardinia are paid a wage. Owners of restaurants I regularly visit in Cagliari, told me they pay their staff anything from €1,300 ( £1,100) to €1,700 (£1,440) per month.
Hospitality work isn’t easy: many seasonal tourism workers are underpaid and suffer precarious working conditions. Meanwhile, the cost of living in Sardinia continues to rise and many find it difficult to make ends meet. Rental of a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre might cost around €800 (£680) per month.
But tipping isn’t the solution. Customers aren’t expected to make up for the difference between what an employer pays their staff and what employees need to earn.
And it needs to stay that way. Once substantial tips become routine in heavily touristed parts of the island, expectations will change. Employers could start considering tips as part of the financial advantage of a job. Workers become accustomed to them. And what was meant to be an unexpected bonus, becomes a request. Sardinians would be stuck with a tipping culture they never asked for, and they can’t afford.
There’s another irony. One of the most common requests (especially by American visitors) is to eat in places “where the locals eat”.
If tourists – who have a much greater spending power than locals – routinely leave €20, €50 or more in tips, they will end up changing the economics of these “local” places. Sardinians can’t compete and would become less financially valuable.
However, several restaurant owners have told me that they welcome cash tips for their waiting staff, and disagreed that foreign tourists should stop tipping, depriving them of an additional income.
None wanted to be identified, because the tips they described were cash. While these should enter the formal tax system, they hardly ever do. What some customers may feel is a generous act is more complicated.
Italy has a serious problem with undeclared income and tax evasion. Normalising large cash tips risks creating yet another stream of income that’s hard to trace and likely goes untaxed outside the formal economy.
A €10 note left occasionally on the table by one of Sardinia’s millions of tourists soon multiplies to thousands of euros in additional, undeclared income.
Supporting the local economy isn’t just about putting extra cash into someone’s pocket. A healthy economy depends on income being accounted for, businesses competing on fair terms, and everyone contributing their share to the system.
In Italy, you may see a coperto on your restaurant bill – that’s a per-person cover charge. For larger groups (usually eight or more), you may also see servizio, a service charge. You don’t need to leave a tip on top. If someone provides exceptional service, round up the bill and leave a few euros.
Tourism has already had a significant impact on the island. It has changed our housing market and increased the price of daily goods. Some of those changes bring opportunities; others make everyday life harder. The last thing we need is for tourists to import new financial expectations, too.
So, when you come to Sardinia, enjoy our restaurants, taste the amazing food, order a bottle of Sardinian wine, and spend your money with local businesses. And when the bill arrives, pay it, say grazie, and leave without feeling guilty.