“No matter how much we talk about it, tourists need convenient toilets: cool ones in summer and warm ones in winter. As they say, ‘the theater begins with the coat rack, and tourism begins with the toilet.’ We have many picturesque places that attract tourists, but in most of them, there are no quality sanitary facilities. What we have now is outdated—it no longer meets modern requirements. Even in the mountains, it's not always possible to find decent toilets,” he said.
According to Jumakhanov, yurt camps with platforms are currently being built, but the toilet conditions often come down to two planks under a roof.
“For us, it may be familiar, and we can tolerate such conditions. However, for foreign tourists, it becomes a real stress. Some of them have never seen such toilets and experience significant discomfort when encountering them,” he added.
He cited a case where one of his colleagues spoke about tourists from Arab countries who always travel only with men. When asked why they do not bring their wives and children, one of the men replied, “You simply don’t have toilets where our women could go.” In cities, especially in megacities, there are at least some more or less acceptable conditions—hotels and normal toilets.
Arab tourists appreciate our nature—mountains, rivers, and clean water. When they go out into nature, men can somehow cope with minimal conditions, but this is not suitable for women. They clearly express: “Our women simply have nowhere to go; you don’t have normal facilities,” he concluded.
