How to Run a Tour With Two Guides and Split the Tips

A two-guide tour runs well when three things are settled before the group shows up: who leads, how guests will know both guides, and how the tips get divided. Get those right and the guests experience one tour with two people who clearly know each other. Skip them and you get two guides talking over each other and an awkward moment at the end when somebody asks who to tip.

Most operators run two guides for one of four reasons. A lead is training a new guide. A guide works alongside a driver. A big group gets split into two halves that leapfrog each other. Or a private event is big enough to need two people. The setup below works for all four, with the differences called out where they matter.

If you are newer to how guidebooks fit into a tour, start with what a digital guidebook is for tour operators, then come back.

Decide the roles before the guests arrive

Guests relax when it is obvious who is in charge. Pick a lead for the day, even if your two guides are equally experienced. The lead opens the tour, makes the safety and logistics calls, and closes it. The second guide owns specific stops or specific jobs.

• Lead and trainee. The lead runs the tour. Give the trainee one or two stops to own outright, so guests see them as a guide rather than a shadow.
• Guide and driver. The driver often does more storytelling than anyone plans for. Decide in advance whether they are part of the commentary or part of the logistics.
• Split group. Each guide leads their own half. Agree a time and place where the halves meet again, and who calls it if one half runs late.

Introduce both guides in the first five minutes

Guests tip, review and remember people they can name. A second guide who is never introduced turns into "the other one" in every review, if they get mentioned at all.

The lead introduces both, by first name, at the meeting point. Something as simple as "I'm Emily, this is Joe, and Joe is going to take you through the second half" does the job. It also tells the group that the handover halfway through is planned rather than a surprise.

Give guests one place to find both of you

A guest who wants to look up a guide's recommendation later, or leave a review that names them, needs to find both guides in one place. Two business cards and a verbal "look me up" rarely survive the walk back to the hotel.

In a Digital Guidebooks guidebook, guests enter both guide codes in the same field with a plus sign between them, like EMILY+JOE. The guidebook shows each guide in their own section with their own photo and bio, and the menu changes to Your Guides. You can also build the guest link with both guides already filled in and print it as a QR code for check-in, so the group never types a code at all.

Agree how tips are split before the tour

This is the conversation that causes trouble when it happens after the tour, with money already on the table. Have it once, when the pairing is set, and write the answer down where both guides can see it.

The common approaches:

• Even split. Everything goes in one pool and is divided in half. Simple, and it works best when both guides do roughly equal work.
• Split by role. The lead takes a larger share, often 60/40. Common for lead and trainee pairings, where the lead carries the tour.
• Trainee keeps their stops. Anything a guest gives the trainee directly stays with them. It rewards the trainee for owning their stops and costs the lead nothing.
• Driver gets a fixed share. Useful when the driver's role is mostly logistics, and it keeps the arithmetic easy.

There is no single right answer. What matters is that the rule exists before the tour, so the split is a calculation rather than a negotiation.

Ask for one tip, not two

A guest deciding what to tip should be thinking about the afternoon they just had, not deciding which of two guides deserves more. Two tip jars, or two payment links side by side, turn a moment of gratitude into a small judgment call, and some guests respond by giving less, or nothing.

Ask once and say plainly that the tip is shared. In Digital Guidebooks, a two-guide tip page sends the tip to the first guide in the code and tells the guest "Your tip is shared between Emily and Joe." The guides divide it afterwards using the rule they already agreed. For more on the timing and wording of the ask itself, see how to increase tour guide tips.

Plan for the guide without a digital tip account

Plenty of guides, especially in their first season, have never set up Venmo, PayPal or Cash App for work. Pair two guides and the odds that one of them is missing a tip account go up. Trainees and seasonal staff are the most likely.

If that guide ends up first in the code, a guest who wants to tip has nowhere to send it. Two ways to handle it:

• Put the guide who has a tip account first, and let them pass on their partner's share.
• Use a company tip account. In Digital Guidebooks this is the Team Tip Account in Settings. A code that starts with TEAM, like TEAM+SAM, shows Sam to the guest and sends the tip to your company account, and you pay Sam the way you already pay your staff.

Either way, check it before the tour, not when a guest is standing there with their phone out.

"Even just the tipping part, having that be less awkward where the guides can just say their Venmo link is in the guidebook. Because pulling up your phone and showing someone your Venmo link is just kind of an awkward thing for the guide, even if somebody asked you for it."

Alyssa Schoenfeld, Bites of Boston Food Tours

A pre-tour checklist for two guides

1. Pick the lead for the day and decide which stops the second guide owns.
2. Agree the tip split and write it down.
3. Check both guides have a current photo and bio in the guidebook.
4. Confirm the first guide in the code has a tip account, or use your team account.
5. Build the guest link with both guides in it and print the QR code for check-in.
6. Plan the introduction at the meeting point, with both names.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do two tour guides split tips?

Agree a rule before the tour and write it down. The common options are an even split, a split by role such as 60/40 for a lead and trainee, letting a trainee keep tips given at their own stops, or a fixed share for a driver. Collect tips into one pool so guests make one decision, then divide it using the rule.

Should a trainee guide get a share of the tips?

Many operators give trainees a share once they lead part of the tour, because guests tip the people they interacted with. A smaller share than the lead is common while they are learning. Giving the trainee one or two stops to own makes the share easy to justify.

Should guests tip each guide separately?

Usually not. Two separate tip requests ask the guest to judge between the guides, and some guests give less as a result. One tip, clearly described as shared between both guides, is easier for the guest and easier for the guides to divide afterwards.

How can guests tip a guide who does not have Venmo or PayPal?

Send the tip to a company tip account instead and pass it on through payroll. In Digital Guidebooks, a guide code that starts with TEAM shows the guide to the guest and routes the tip to the operator's Team Tip Account.