Public offices and service establishments in the central Vietnamese city of Hue are leaving their doors wide open, quite literally, for local residents and tourists to use their restrooms for free.
More than 50 public organizations, restaurants and cafés have put up "Free WC" signs in answer to a call for more restrooms in Hue, the capital of Thua Thien-Hue Province, according to the local tourism department.
The Hue administration and the provincial departments of investment and culture have also opened their restrooms for free public use.
Tourists and locals who need to answer the call of nature can enter those venues and use the restrooms free of charge, instead of searching for one of a sparse number of public toilets in the city.
Phan Thien Dinh, director of the province’s tourism department, said the call for free restrooms has been enthusiastically supported by local residents and domestic and international tourists.
Most of the participating venues are located on main streets such as Le Loi, Hung Vuong and Nguyen Cong Tru, and the number of available free restrooms is expected to rise, Dinh added.
“The participating venues will cover all expenses arising from this free activity. We have only given them minor financial assistance to make the ‘Free WC’ signs,” the tourism director said.