Secondary works that are "not secondary"

"Sadness" is hard to say
Recently, thousands of tourists from near and far have come to the flower fields in Nghia Dan to enjoy the poetic scenery and take souvenir photos with the brilliant colors of flowers. Although they have only appeared recently, the fields of sunflowers, buckwheat flowers, butterfly flowers, etc. have really created a "check-in fever" for Nghe An tourism.

Listening to the feedback of many tourists right at the flower field as well as on social networks, we are happy to see that most of them have words of praise for this new tourist destination: convenient transportation, beautiful scenery, diverse services... Only thing is, many guests frankly expressed the "sadness" that perhaps everyone encounters when coming to this place, which is the lack of public toilets!

Public toilet in the Square in Vinh City. Photo: Phuoc Anh

A male visitor from Hai Duong province shared: “The flower field is vast, surrounded by shelters for parking, selling drinks, renting costumes… but why has no one thought of building a row of public restrooms?

Some other tourists said that they traveled a long distance to the flower fields and had a great need to "relieve themselves", but there were no public restrooms, so female tourists had to go to a residential area which was quite far away and inconvenient, while male tourists had to find a hidden place to "relieve themselves"!

Lack of public restrooms not only causes inconvenience and frustration for tourists but also causes embarrassment and shame for many tour guides and operators. Tour guide Phan The Duc shared: Every time a customer asks where the restroom is, I feel extremely embarrassed because there is no restroom to point to. There are places where restrooms are available, but they are so dirty that customers have to turn around before they even get there. Many times, just because there is no restroom, the trip has to be shortened to take customers back to the hotel to relieve themselves!

Statistics from the Department of Tourism show that, up to now, the whole province has 199 toilets serving tourists at relics, scenic spots, and tourist attractions; of which only 79 toilets meet the standards to serve tourists. The current quality and quantity of toilets clearly cannot meet the needs of tourists.

The reason for the lack of public toilets is that the thinking and viewpoint of some management boards of tourist areas and spots have taken "auxiliary works" lightly; local authorities have not really paid attention and determined to improve the problem of toilets; lack of funds for maintenance, repair, and construction; lack of staff to clean the works or if they do, they do it superficially... We also cannot ignore the awareness of a part of the people and tourists who have toilets but do not use them but relieve themselves carelessly in any place they think is convenient!

Remember, in 2012, in the tourism stimulus program, the General Department of Tourism launched the slogan "Where there is tourism, there are standard toilets", however, with Nghe An tourism, until now that slogan has not been implemented.

In early 2017, implementing the direction of the Vinh City Party Committee Standing Committee on building a civilized urban Vinh City in 2017, the Vinh City Youth Union launched a campaign to install public toilets for people at coffee shops. The campaign achieved some initial results, but so far the spread of the pilot models is not high, the problem of public toilets is still very urgent.

Socializing the toilet

In recent times, the Provincial Tourism Development Steering Committee has implemented many solutions to improve the quality of infrastructure, facilities and services at tourist attractions in the area; including the construction and upgrading of public toilets to serve tourists. According to assessments, some tourist attractions with a large number of visitors such as Kim Lien Relic Site, Truong Bon Historical Relic Site, Ho Chi Minh Square, Dai Tue Pagoda, Muong Thanh Dien Lam Eco-tourism Area... have quite spacious toilets. Most of the planning and investment projects for construction, preservation and restoration of historical relics have included the construction of public toilets.

Many service establishments, shopping malls, and gas stations on national and provincial highways have paid more attention to building public restrooms. However, in general, the situation of public restrooms at tourist attractions and service establishments has not met the increasing demand of tourists.

A standard public toilet for tourists in Vinh City. Photo: Phuoc Anh

In early December 2018, Thanh Hoa province approved the project to build a system of standard toilets to serve tourists in the province by 2025. Thanh Hoa province strives that by 2020, all key tourist areas will have at least one standard toilet to serve tourists. By 2025, basically all key tourist areas, historical - cultural relics, scenic spots at provincial level or higher will have standard toilets to serve tourists. The total number of standard toilets by 2025 is 181. Thanh Hoa province requires land to be allocated to build new planned toilets according to the project. The total estimated cost of implementation is 42.9 billion VND. Of which, the provincial budget is 26.7 billion VND; other capital (district and commune budgets combined with socialized capital) is 16.2 billion VND.

Recently, Nghe An Department of Tourism has launched a program to socialize toilets for tourists, aiming to promote available resources to socialize toilets for tourists, improve tourist satisfaction; Disseminate and replicate good practices and good models in socializing toilet construction; Contribute to environmental protection and build a cultural, civilized, friendly and hospitable lifestyle of the people, and effectively implement the Code of Conduct for Civilized Tourism.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Loi - Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism said: According to the plan, in the coming time, the Department will take the lead in directing and coordinating the process of mobilizing organizations to participate in the movement in the spirit of volunteerism, actively cooperating and linking with organizations and individuals inside and outside the province to support resources for the construction and socialization of public toilets to serve tourists; guide the printing and installation of toilet identification logos designed according to the model prescribed by the General Department of Tourism.

On the local side, the Department of Tourism proposed to coordinate and mobilize businesses, business households, bus stations, gas stations along national and provincial highways, rest stops, historical and tourist sites in the area to actively participate in the socialization of toilets for tourists...

In addition, the Department of Tourism also requested relevant departments, branches and units such as the Department of Transport, Department of Industry and Trade, Tourism Association, organizations and businesses, etc. to pay attention and actively join hands to socialize toilets, in order to improve service quality and destination image, creating satisfaction for tourists from near and far.