Nobody would dispute that tourist areas need plenty of washroom facilities. But a second question concerns whether you would go for standard equipment such as toilet cubicle packs, or something that might appeal to a particular demographic among your visitors.
Concerns about public toilet provision in the UK have been a major issue for years, with vandalism and shrinking council budgets combining to reduce the facilities available.
This has been highlighted in multiple pieces of research, a prime example being a report by the Royal Society for Public Health, published earlier this year. It found that:
- There were 15,481 people for every public toilet in England
- This was down 14 per cent on a decade ago
- The figures are far worse than in Scotland and Wales, where the respective ratios per person are 8,500 and 6,748
The problem has had various impacts in some key locations, such as town centres where many members of the public have been deterred from going due to the lack of facilities, with consequent negative impacts on the local economy.
Why Would A Lack Of Washrooms Negatively Impact Tourism Hotspots?
Another instance where a lack of facilities may have serious consequences is in tourist hotspots. Potential visitors researching an area won’t just want to see the sights. They will want to find good places to stay, to eat and, of course, to access the facilities.
If word gets round that these are lacking, this may drive tourism numbers down. Since users of websites like Tripadvisor will pick up on these issues, woe betide the town that expects the visitors to come pouring in but won’t meet this essential need.
However, the way such issues may be tackled could differ depending on the nature of tourist hotspots, as may be seen when one compares a traditional seaside resort like Scarborough with Cambridge, with its rich academic heritage.
Why Does A Washroom Shortage Persist In Scarborough?
In the case of Scarborough, the lack of public washrooms in the town centre is an issue for tourists and locals alike, with the latter frequently complaining that they are deterred from visiting the town centre.
In June, the town’s mayor Thomas Murray expressed disappointment that no progress had been made with the problem, particularly with North Yorkshire Council for not providing new facilities after the Brunswick Centre was closed to the public.
Lacking much money to install facilities itself, the town council has been attempting to get local businesses to partner in a ‘community toilets’ scheme to provide more places for people to go, but so far has met with a complete lack of success.
What Is Controversial About Cambridge’s New Public Washrooms?
While Scarborough continues to look for solutions, Cambridge has been increasing its washroom provision. However, the newest additions have proved highly controversial.
On the face of it, having the council spend £1 million on new underground facilities at Silver Bridge to replace the old, flood-prone loos sounds like good news for locals and visitors alike. However, the new washrooms cost £1 to visit, and that is not the only controversy.
Rather than opting entirely for normal toilet cubicles with traditional loos that Britons would be familiar with, it has installed three ‘squat’ style toilets of the kind commonly used in regions such as South Asia.
This has sparked a furious reaction in some quarters, with angry tabloid headlines about how the facilities are aimed at foreign visitors, even though most of the toilets are of the more familiar kind.
However, the combination of the cost and the ‘foreign’ provision has proved to be a red rag to some, prompting the city council to issue a statement defending its decisions.
It pointed out that, contrary to the impression given in some reports, the facilities did not only consist of the three squat toilets, but also:
- Six standard seated toilets
- Three urinals
- A wheelchair accessible toilet at street level
- Baby changing facilities
In addition, it noted, these facilities will be cleaned more frequently than other public washrooms in the city, with the £1 charge helping to fund this while enabling the other facilities around the city centre to be provided free of charge.
The council also emphasised that the money was not to pay for the construction of the facilities (despite the implication that they were lavishing money on facilities for foreigners), while reminding readers that it does not have a statutory duty to provide washrooms at all.
Whether this message cuts through to locals, especially once the wider news attention dies down, remains to be seen.
However, it might be seen by some as an enlightened move, reciprocating the fact that many foreign hotels have western-style toilets that their guests might feel more comfortable using than local facilities.
How Can You Tailor Washroom Facilities To Visitor Needs?
If you are in a similar situation, you may consider whether a cubicle pack and ‘normal’ facilities are what your area needs, or whether you need to take into account the nature of the tourism your area attracts.
Cambridge is an example of a city that has a broad international appeal. For example, in 2019, 51 per cent of overnight visitors were from overseas.
A town like Scarborough is very different. Appealing to a more traditional audience as a classic English seaside town, it was built on domestic tourism back in an age when very few Britons took holidays overseas.
Its tourism economy is partly built on short stays, of which there were 706,000 in 2024, more than Blackpool, York, Leeds and Manchester.
Nonetheless, as the tourism plan for the borough of Scarborough drawn up in 2020 noted, day trippers are the biggest single source of visitors.
Cambridge gets many day trippers as well, but its proximity to London makes it easier for overseas visitors to access. Scarborough’s core appeal to British visitors means that when the local washroom situation does improve, it shouldn’t focus on squat toilets.
That 2020 plan did, however, note that “sufficient and clean” public washroom provision with longer opening times was a major issue, and improving this was crucial for local tourism.
The take-home conclusion should be that in any town or city that has a high level of tourism, good washroom provision is important to its visitor economy. However, it is perhaps only in a few specific cases that it should be designed with more international usage in mind.
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