Experts and community leaders are calling for stronger visitor management measures — including fees, reservation mechanisms, and enhanced public education to cope with the growing influx of eco-tourists to Hong Kong's hiking areas during the Labor Day Golden Week holiday.

Data shows that Chinese mainland tourists made over 710,000 passenger trips from Friday to Sunday, the first three days of the five-day break, with many heading to the city’s scenic areas. On Friday alone, around 5,700 people visited the east dam of High Island Reservoir, while campsites at Ham Tin Wan, Sai Wan, and Long Ke Wan in Sai Kung recorded about 1,100 tents.

Authorities conducted round the clock patrols, using drones and CCTV to monitor campsites and enforce rules. However, concerns have been raised over issues such as inadequate public facilities and rubbish accumulation. Also during the holiday, an interview video clip went viral on social media in both the mainland and Hong Kong. A tourist, who was issued a summons for improperly dumping food waste, saying while smoking a cigarette that paying the fine was enough. The comments have ignited discussion about disrespect for the law and poor tourism manners.

Lawmaker and veteran district councilor Christine Fong Kwok-shan told a radio show Monday that some tourists have complained of 20 minute queues for toilets, as well as overflowing rubbish bins. Fong cited a restricted workforce, noting that it would be difficult to mobilize adequate cleaners at secluded beaches like this.

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Noting the high cost of building new infrastructure, she urged faster introduction of camping fees to fund more basic facilities, including more drinking water points and public toilets. She added that most tourists follow the rules, but some need better public education. In this regard, Fong suggested on-site broadcasts since people might miss visual warnings in the crowd.

Li Mimi, a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management, said that drawing on eco tourism models in the United States and Canada, introducing visitor fees is reasonable in the long run, which, combined with measures like a reservation system, can effectively manage crowds.

However, she noted that such a system must be based on thorough research, including the groups to target, sites to cover, permanent or seasonal, and so on. Moreover, once tourists pay, they have expectations, Li said. After providing corresponding services, whether a site can still afford to regulate tourists and upgrade facilities — the original purpose of the fees — also needs precise assessment.

In the short term, Li believes public education and bridging the information gap are key to alleviating the problem.

"Overcrowding at a few specific spots is not an issue unique to eco tourism — in fact, it is a problem facing Hong Kong's entire tourism industry," Li said.

Li noted that Hong Kong has many country parks, but mainland visitors flock to just a few popular spots because they rely heavily on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu for travel information, where highly-homogenized tips drive everyone to the same few spots. Closing this gap represents a major challenge for dispersing visitor flows, Li said.

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Chris Cheung Mei-hung, a Sai Kung District Council member and licensed tour guide, called for more digitalized crowd diversion and capping measures.

He said that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department's website currently only shows crowd levels at the east dam, noting that other popular spots such as Ham Tin Wan, Sai Wan, Long Ke Wan and Kiu Tsui should also be added to a monitoring system using technology to provide real-time situations such as crowd data. Besides, these data should be released via apps and social media, not just websites, so visitors can reconsider their plans. For ecologically valuable areas like those with coral reefs, reservation systems and visitor limits should be quickly established based on scientific studies.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com