Japanese hate filthy toilets

DENPASAR, Bali: Japanese tourists find the many filthy toilets located in Indonesia's airports and tourism sites repellent enough to make them cancel visits here, Antara reported yesterday.

Quoting Wanda, a speaker at a seminar on tourism here, the agency said that many Japanese tourists prefer other countries to Indonesia because of many factors, including reports of filthy toilets.

She did not give details.

Wanda also cited a shortage of information on Indonesia and expensive prices for Indonesian tours (as compared to other destinations such as Hawaii, South Korea, and France) as part of the problem.

Indonesia ranks 17th among countries that Japanese choose as their tourism destinations. Hawaii ranks first, followed by Korea, France, the United States, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Taiwan.

Over the past five years, however, the number of tourists visiting Bali increased by an average 18.6 percent per year. In 1991, a total of 87,700 people visited Bali. Last year, the figure rose to 112,220 people. (swe)