Is Eco Tourism the answer to Overtourism in Hong Kong?
Quality vs Quantity - mixed signals from the HK Government
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.
I have personally completed 2,300+ Private Tours and Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.
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Is Eco Tourism the answer to Overtourism in Hong Kong?
Quality vs Quantity - mixed signals from the HK Government
click on the image to enlarge
The Definition.
Ecotourism is now defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (TIES, 2015). Education is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests.
Principles of Ecotourism
Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement, participate in and market ecotourism activities should adopt the following ecotourism principles:
Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climates.
Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People in your community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
Eco Tourism… that’s such a deceiving word. What they’re doing is creating over tourism in Hong Kong’s natural environment. That’s not sustainable tourism.
This quote today was part of a message from my great friend Amy of Hong Kong Greeters (Private Tours of Hong Kong) as usual she nails it in as few words as possible.
Personally I find these buzz words and phrases to be tiresome and irrelevant used by people who think that cliches make you look smart, I am a Yorkshireman, I prefer plain English. when it comes to cliches Eco Tourism is right up there with hidden gems, secret spots and travel like a local.
If I was to give a label to Eco Tourism in relation to doing Private Tours I would use the phrase “countryside tours” or “nature tours” which do not require any explanation, but that is just me, it is certainly a lot simpler to grasp than the complicated nonsense listed above.
This letter to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, nails it from a Hong Kong perspective and was written in February 2023 and the comments are still relevant in 2025
The launch of the Hello Hong Kong campaign marks our return to normalcy. While our city remains a shopping paradise, the government is looking to promote green tourism to diversify our attractions. Yet caution may be required.
First, eco-tourism should be regulated to promote sustainability and safeguard the environment. Take Yilan, for example. The coastal county in northern Taiwan offers breathtaking views that have made it a green destination. To minimise the environmental impact of tourism, the local authorities regularly work to raise awareness and enforce laws, such as against littering. Taking into consideration what the local environment can sustainably support, more bicycle lanes and public transport have also been provided.
Similarly, in Hong Kong, the government must factor in the recovery capacity of eco-tourist spots and mitigate any potential damage to nature. If the environment is overwhelmed by visitors, eco-tourism becomes unsustainable.
In any case, it would be difficult for green tours to become the main element of our tourism industry. Hong Kong is a small city. It is truly a blessing that we can reach green areas within an hour. But there are far more magnificent and diverse eco-tourism destinations elsewhere, such as the Amazon rainforest. In comparison, the Hong Kong Wetland Park, for instance, is likely to disappoint the tourists used to attractions on a far grander scale.
For Hongkongers, however, our country parks are a haven. If we start to encourage thousands of visitors from overseas to go to these parks, we risk overtourism and conflict between travellers and locals.
To strike a healthy balance between green tourism and sustainability, it is worth the government’s while to formulate measures to counter potential hazards so that all Hongkongers can give a wholehearted welcome to our visitors.
Alison Ng, assistant lecturer, Centre for Applied English Studies, University of Hong Kong
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This is an image of a beach in Pui O on Lantau Isand in Hong Kong taken by our son Jack (who also took the main image above) now imagine the same scene with hundreds if not thousands of tourists taking selfies with cows walking along the beach in the background.
The SCMP letter by Alison Ng is important for what it does not say, which is that 80% of Hong Kong visitors | tourists are from Mainland China and for many Hong Kong residents that is a problem | cultural issue, since the first waves of Mainland Chinese Tourism after SARS in 2003 in Hong Kong the number of visitors from China is out of control, we hit 65 million visitors in 2018 and if it was not for Covid undoubtedly we would have hit the magical 100 million mark with at least 80% of them from Mainland China.
Personally I have no issue with Mainland Chinese tourists, we have always welcomed visitors from everywhere, I often feel a little sad that the Hong Kong Government has strict policies when it comes to Mainland Chinese Tourism as ripping them off was always a thing for Hong Kong Travel Agents and that is not acceptable and it still happens.
When they where spending money like crazy in Hong Kong from 2003 - 2018 tolerated would be an appropriate word but Covid has completely reset tourism in Hong Kong and around the world and now the Mainland Chinese visitors are mainly young people who simply want to find that elusive selfie spot to post on Chinese Social Media, spending money on brand name products is not a thing any more, they even find spending money in restaurants to be too expensive when compared to Mainland China, so now a lot of them cross the border for 8 - 10 hours before returning home.
… this shift in tourism can be summed up by this comment
“The tourism paradigm or world view represents the collective perspective, school of thought, and shared beliefs that shape the way the tourism community of a given era perceives the world of tourism and the guiding principles of its behavior.”
This is a couple of paragraphs from a report in the South China Morning Post on April 4th 2025 which sums up the tourism issue facing Hong Kong
“Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs is deeply concerned with how the city can enhance its offerings for visitors, the tourism chief has said while pledging to press on with rolling out new initiatives focused on local resources such as islands and coasts.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui made the pledge on Friday after presenting her work and plans to Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and meeting other officials in Beijing.”
So despite getting 65 million visitors in 2018 and 45 million visitors in 2024 (post Covid) we are still apparently not attracting enough tourists to Hong Kong.. so our hard working and competent Tourism officials are caught between a rock and a hard place with conflicting policies causing chaos.
So it is basically an issue between quality and quantity and whether Eco Tourism can lessen the impact of overtourism
In a nutshell and as mentioned above 80% of Hong Kong tourists actually come from Mainland China and this figure has not changed much in the past 10+ years, the Hong Kong Government is quite aware that this poses a huge risk, Mainland Chinese tourists are not ordered to come to Hong Kong and if Hong Kong loses its allure then we are in big trouble. Mainland Chinese tourists 10 years ago would come to Hong Kong for some high end shopping, post Covid that has changed, now they essentially come to take selfies (I am not kidding) and waste hours travelling to remote and green locations for that perfect shot which they then post on social media platforms.
In essence any interesting selfie spot gains popularity on the social media platform Xiaohongshu and this leads to these attractions attracting a significant number of Mainland Chinese tourists and this causes clashes with Hong Kong residents who like nothing more than to visit off the beaten track locations for a spot of hiking and such particularly on weekends and holidays, the last thing they want is to see 10,000 Mainland Chinese Tourists swarming along a hiking trail taking selfies and transport becomes an issue due to frequency of service.
So there lies the conundrum - The Chinese Government wants the Hong Kong Government to boost off the beaten track eco tourism, hence the 3 new projects being developed but this is going to risk the wrath of residents who believe that the green areas of Hong Kong should be off limits to tourists and to be honest not many Non Mainland Chinese Tourists have any particular interest in doing “green tours” simply because most of our “green attractions” lack any sort of wow factor, there is only ONE Victoria Peak with the amazing panoramic city views.
If this is the policy of the Mainland Chinese Government then the Hong Kong Government has to take notice, the policy has its merits but there a lot of issues that must be addressed.
Personally I simply cannot imagine tens of millions of Non Mainland Chinese visitors coming to Hong Kong because of our mildly interesting Eco Tourism attractions for reasons stated above and below and to put it into context I can only think of 3 companies that offer only hiking tours | eco tours in Hong Kong, there simply is no real demand at this point in time.
Now if we had an waterfall like the Angel Falls called Salto Angel in Venezuela with a height of 979 metres i.e. 3212 ft is the highest waterfall in the world, this might attract millions of people however in Hong Kong the Ng Tung Chai Waterfalls that are in the northern foothills of Hong Kong's highest mountain - Tai Mo Shan. With a drop of 35 m, the Main Fall is the highest waterfall in Hong Kong simply put 35m (and a hard to get to location) does not merit any attention when you compare it to 979m.
I should also point out that the Hong Kong Wetlands Park which is quite interesting, I used to take school trips there when our boys were in school but it takes ages to get to and there are all sorts of regulations and red tape to contend with and it is not the same as visiting the Amazon Rain Forest. It is a Hong Kong Government operated facility by the way, have a look at the website, link is above.
If you are interested in Hong Kong Government Policy on Tourism then please click on the link above, it is 138 pages and was published recently and shows (if you can cut through the background noise) official policy and bear in mind the official policy is simply to break incoming arrival records every year, (in my humble opinion) I have seen Government reports outlining how they plan for at least 100 million visitors a year which is an outrageous number for a small city of 430sq miles or 1,114 sq km with much of it rocky, hilly and green (and to me one hill looks pretty much like any other hill) unless you are talking about my spiritual home of Victoria Peak.
There are 579 named peaks in the city, with the highest and most prominent one being Tai Mo Shan (957 m/ 3,140 ft). this is the one shown in the main image of this blog above (also taken by our son Jack who is a bit of a photographer) couple this with 263 islands just waiting to be discovered by social media mobs and you have chaos brewing.
… and yes, tourism discussions invariably have comparisons between Hong Kong and Singapore and bear in mind with Singapore you can hop over the border with Malaysia in just a few minutes and have all the green tourism you can handle!
In Hong Kong we have an informal group of the 15 best Tour Companies in Hong Kong and we have lively discussions every day on a wide range of tourism matters and yes Eco Tourism and Overtourism are hot topics at the moment.
Below is the text I sent to the group on these very subjects on April 5th 2025
Government plans for Ecotourism
So the Hong Kong Tourism officials are feeling the heat with criticism from the Mainland Chinese Government.
How about something a bit more fundamental rather than vague plans using buzzwords like Eco Tourism and such
How about :
• an observation wheel on top of the Ocean Terminal at least twice the size of the one at Central Piers
• A skybridge across the harbour from the Star Ferry to the Star Ferry, no traffic, a simple pedestrian bridge
• A cable car from the Star Ferry in TST Kowloon across the harbour and up to the Peak and down to Aberdeen
• a cable car from the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal to North Point and onto Stanley
• a skybridge across the harbour from the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal to North Point, no traffic, a simple pedestrian bridge
• A cable car to the summit of Lion Rock from Wong Tai Sin
• A tram service like the Hong Kong Island Tram system going along the entire length of Nathan Road in Kowloon and connecting to Lai Chi Lok (this was proposed over 100 years ago!)
These could be world class iconic attractions with instant appeal and that wow factor and make Hong Kong a must see city
All of these have been proposed in the past.
Ecotourism and watching cows walking along a beach or hiking out in the boonies does NOT have wow factor
If they want people to visit then go large as they say
Just saying
It is naturally all just wishful thinking on our part but this is what Hong Kong needs and not a huge eco tourism revitalisation of green Hong Kong
The essence of what I am saying is that if you want to have huge tourism growth then you need the wow factor, hiking trails and beaches do NOT have the wow factor
On the other hand this artists impression of a sky bridge connecting Hong Kong Island to Kowloon has wow factor on steroids, my lifelong dream (well 53 years and counting in Hong Kong) is to see a bridge across Victoria Harbour which you could walk across and this fits the bill nicely, West Kowloon in Kowloon to Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island. We can but dream.
The great thing about this bridge is that it is not out in the boonies, it is in town
I think also that the Hong Kong Government does not really understand the dynamics of tourism and the key factor is time.
It is officially understood that the average length of stay in 2024 was 3.2 days but….
The figures have to be put into context and this chart highlights how statistics can be used to fudge the issue and fudge they do.
These stats are from 2010 - 2024 and issued by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government and if you look at 2024, well out of the almost 45 million visitors more than 50% of them where same day visitors in other words in Hong Kong for 1 day only and not staying overnight. This is even more pronounced in 2018 our best year for tourism when 35.9 million people out of a total of 65 million people stayed just one day and did not stay overnight.
As 80% of out visitors come from China, in 2025 we will have about 60% of tourists just staying the day and not staying overnight and the less time they are in Hong Kong the less they will spend.
I know from my own statistics after doing 2,331 private tours of Hong Kong that over 80% of my guests were in Hong Kong for 2 days or less.
The time spent in Hong Kong is a major metric on how much money visitors spend but it also has a major impact on time and what they can actually do when in Hong Kong, I will repeat again that Hong Kong is 430sq miles or 1,114sq km with 263 Islands, this is a large area and no matter how good our public transport is, is takes time to visit areas that are not in so called urban areas. (and I reckon we have the best public transport of any city in the world)
For example a popular tour in Hong Kong is to visit the Big Buddha and the TaI O Fishing Village on Lantau Island, most of tour guides treat this as an 8 hour tour and travel accounts for close to 4 hours as it in a remote area of Lantau Island and far away from civilisation!
So when it comes to Eco Tourism I have to laugh at how many people say in Hong Kong that it is easy to get to hiking trails and remote places and islands, fine, the transport is efficient but it still takes a lot of time to go there and get back and without knowledge of transport options you will spend many hours travelling to a remote location allowing for say 1 hour to see the place and take selfies and then the long journey back to town.
The point being is that if you are in Hong Kong for 1 or 2 days only, spending a day going to a remote “eco tourism” attractions does not leave much time to see the best of Hong Kong.
… and as the Government is finding out, public transport options to remote locations are not at the same frequency levels as in city options so you can spend an awful long time just hanging around waiting for a bus…. in other words Eco Tourism and Overtourism are clashing at the moment in Hong Kong.
…. and that people is what is leading to a lot of discussion in Hong Kong at the moment about a practical tourism policy, it is easy to propose that we should be encouraging people to go out into the wilderness and sail to islands but without a coherent and in place transport system with frequent services you will never get the numbers, public transport frequency is based on numbers, there is little point in running a bus that takes 2 hours to get to a location every 10 minutes if the bus is almost empty and travelling to islands means a ferry ride or a very expensive boat charter and again it takes a lot of time and for a lot of people time is in short supply.
It is not a perfect world in Hong Kong, it is easy to make a proposal to build green attractions far away from the city centre, this is NOT a case of “build it and they will come” there are so many factors in play that need to be considered and frequency, time and cost of transport have to be factored in, it costs for example a lot of money to visit the Big Buddha and Tai O Fishing Village on Lantau Island which comes as a surprise to many unsuspecting tourists.
Lest we forget, the needs and opinions of the 7.54 million Hong Kong residents need to be considered and that is they say is that.
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong |
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