Hong Kong’s appetite for the great outdoors reached new heights over the Year-of-the-Horse holiday, but the surge in tents and tour groups has reignited an old dilemma: how to balance visitor access with environmental protection. A South China Morning Post spot-check at Sai Kung’s Ham Tin Wan on 21 February counted roughly 50 day-trippers and 30 pitched tents at midday – a figure veteran hikers said was unheard-of before the pandemic. Overflowing rubbish bins, plastic bottles buried in sand and clogged sinks at public toilets painted a worrying picture of ‘overtourism’ in miniature. Officers from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) were out in force, issuing gentle reminders and fining a handful of offenders who ignored “leave no trace” signs. Despite a six-fold increase in patrols since 2023 and the rollout of real-time crowd-level dashboards on the “Enjoy Hiking” mobile app, frontline staff say education campaigns alone cannot stem the tide. Outdoor-industry groups are therefore lobbying for a booking system similar to the one used for MacLehose Trail Section 2, where weekend camping permits are rationed online. “If authorities tally arrivals in real time, set a cap, and divert surplus campers to under-used sites, we can avoid irreversible habitat damage,” said Simon Cheung, chair of the Hong Kong Countryside Conservation Network. Tourism analysts note that post-pandemic leisure patterns have shifted: with outbound airfares still 25 % above 2019 levels, many young professionals are opting for domestic ‘micro-adventures’. Mainland visitors, lured by social-media images of Hong Kong’s beaches and peaks, now account for an estimated 18 % of campsite users, according to data gathered from park-entrance Bluetooth trackers. Policy-makers face practical constraints. Enforcing visitor quotas would require new legislation and budget for electronic gates in remote areas. In the meantime, relocation and travel-risk teams advising assignees should warn that popular campsites will be packed on public holidays, and recommend weekday excursions or lesser-known alternatives such as Tung Chung Battery or Yung Shue O.
Source: South China Morning Post
