First impressions count, especially in the travel industry. With Sri Lanka making the top ten travel lists in many international publications it is more than important that the first impression that a tourist has when they arrive in Sri Lanka is a positive one. Sadly for tourists who have to make an urgent call of nature when they land in Sri Lanka, the experience can be far from serendipitous.

The toilets which line the corridors lining the arrival/departure area ar filthy to say the least. Each toilet has a lavatory attendant. However on each occasion that I have passed by the lavatory attend spends most of her time outside of the toilet in the corridor watching the travellers. Only when you go inside does she follow you inside and eye you up.

Take my journey through the airport last Friday, I paid a visit to the WC and the toilet attendant was outside having a natter with a colleague. Once inside I realized that none of the toilets had any toilet paper. The seats were wet, the floor was wet and it was a real mess. As she had followed me inside on request she gave me a roll,of toilet paper. Once outside there were no towels and when I asked for towels she went into a storage cupboard ans brought out another toilet roll. She'd run out of tissues. This was early in the morning so obviously she had not replenished her stocks the day before. The odors from the toilet were nauseating. The state in which some passengers leave the toilets beggars belief and I often wonder if these passengers' toilet at home are left in such messy conditions.

Perhaps the authorities should pay more heed or increase the frequency of their toilet inspections. Perhaps they toilet attendant could also be given some air fresher to use liberally or a fragrance defuser used to rid the place of the nauseous aromas. The toilets need the urgent attention of the authorities so that remedial action is taken. After all we don't want tourists to think we natives can not keep clean toilets do we?

By Tina Edward Gunawardhana