Ahead of UN International Toilet Day on 19 November, MyTravelResearch.com announces the “Toilet Tourism Awards” to highlight the close link between toilets and successful tourism.
The aim of the awards is to show the link between adequate provision of good toilets and success in a visitor economy reliant on tourists, and to raise awareness of sanitation and toilet provision, especially in developing economies.
The UN says that inadequate toilet facilities cause disease, environmental health challenges, increased mortality, lack of productivity at work and security compromises for women. One in ten people still resort to open defecation daily. The UN is seeking to create adequate toilet provision for everyone by 2030.
The availability and quality of toilets impacts tourism in developed and lesser-developed economies. “Our focus is strictly on the overlap between toilets and tourism. That’s where we can make a positive contribution,” says Bronwyn White, co-founder of MTR.
In the Toilet Tourism Awards, the winners will be in six categories: Overall Winner, Best Tourism Economic Contributor (for when people stop at a toilet in a destination and stay on to spend more than a penny), Best Location (where the toilets have views and maybe considered an attraction in themselves), Best Design (architectural brilliance in toilets, visual design and creativity), Best Accessible Toilet, Quirkiest Toilet Experience (relating to local heritage, fun, or otherwise noteworthy).
From 19 November, toilet owners in tourism destinations around the world, submissions close 1 April 2017. The winners will be announced at the Travel and Tourism Research Association international conference in Quebec, Canada, 22 June 2017.
“This is the chance for toilet owners in tourism to wipe the floor with the competition,” says White. “I like to think of the Toilet Tourism Awards as the tourism industry’s own Game of Thrones.”
