Hats off to loos

“It’s time for destinations to smell the roses. Great toilets drive visitation. We know this from many years of tourism research,” says Bronwyn White, tourism strategist and co-founder of the Australian-based MyTravelResearch.com. “Good toilets provide a valid reason to stop at a destination. Not only will visitors go to the toilet, they may go for a meal, or visit local shops and attractions. Toilets are a vital and underestimated part of the global visitor economy.” 
MyTravelResearch.com created the annual Toilet Tourism Awards to also raise awareness of UN World Toilet Day, which takes place on November 19. The contest is divided into six categories. Other than the Overall Winner, there’s the Best Tourism Economic Contributor, which focuses on when people stop at a toilet in a destination and stay on to spend more than a penny, the Best Location for toilets with a view, and the Best Design, rewarding architectural brilliance, visual design and creativity. The Quirkiest Toilet Experience relates to local heritage and the Best Accessible Toilet is self explanatory.
The Overall winner will receive a AU$2000 (Bt52,000) donation contributed to World Toilet Day in their name and a copy of every MTR research publication in 2017 (worth AU$8000), as well as access to tourism research events. Other category winners will receive the same minus the donation to World Toilet Day.
“This is a good chance for toilet owners in tourism to wipe the floor with the competition,” says White. “I like to think of the Tourism Awards as the tourism industry’s own ‘Game of Thrones’.”
The finalists in each category will be announced June 22 at the Travel and Tourism Research Association international conference in Quebec, Canada. You can download an entry form at www.MyTravelResearch.com.