Davis bets his bottom dollar

Last week was a big week for the humble wharepaku. In what may well turn out to be a moment of inspired destination marketing, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced the allocation of $19.3 million of tourism funding, with a chunk of change going to improving public toilets. Oh, and the associated sewage schemes and wastewater treatment programmes that lie beneath.

You may think me potty for saying this, but Davis might be ahead of a game he may not yet be aware of – toilet tourism.

As New Zealand spends up large on improving infrastructure to cope with growing numbers of tourists, building eye-catching, quirky toilets could be a bit of low-hanging fruit in terms of creating new tourist attractions in their own right.

After all, New Zealand’s already got good form in this area. We’ve got our superstar attraction in the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa. I’ve been there myself and I’m pretty sure it was the only reason we stopped in Kawakawa; it’s certainly worth taking time out for a visit.

Taupo¯ ’s ‘‘superloo’’ has long been a point of interest on the tourist trail. I remember coming to New Zealand in the early 90s as a tourist and the superloo was a noted attraction back then. Wellington’s quirky ‘‘lobster loos’’, tucked away on the waterfront, are certainly a ‘‘stop and ponder’’ wonder for locals and visitors.

Matakana went the whole hog with its Steffan de Haan-designed ‘‘ship shape’’ public toilets, which acknowledge the local boat-building industry.

This toilet tourism thing is a growing phenomenon, and I can see why; it’s fun, quirky and relatively low-cost to take the humble loo and turn it into something worth a special visit.

In fact, last year saw the introduction of the first international Toilet Tourism Awards. The organiser’s point in creating the awards – aside from a good public relations stunt to promote their own company – is that clean, creative, quirky public toilets go a long way to boosting a destination’s image and generating tourism dollars.

New Zealand did well in the 2017 awards, with Hahei Holiday Resort’s newly refurbished loos named as joint winners in the design category.

This year’s overall winner was the newly refurbished James Bond-themed loos at Piz Gloria in Switzerland, the revolving restaurant and visitor centre that was used as Blofeld’s lair during filming of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Travel guide Lonely Planet has its own ‘‘Fame of Thrones’’ listing. As it says, a loo can do much more than serve a function, it can provide a glimpse into ‘‘the soul of a destination’’, whether it be as a showcase for stunning views and nature, cutting edge eco-credentials and innovations, or architectural brilliance.

And good loos, and lots of them, are also great for all of us, locals and tourists alike.

Anyone away from home with young children or older friends and relatives will know there’s nothing more upsetting than needing to spend a penny and not being able to find a convenient convenience.

So I’m putting out the challenge to all those regions that are now flush with Kelvin’s cash to think about what they can do to make their loos stand out as a marketing opportunity.

Start a design competition for local talent; all those designers and architecture students who are looking for their first big break. Now’s the time to start thinking about how to take your humble toilet to the next level.

I think this will be the first time I’ve ever encouraged New Zealand to join the race to the bottom.