About 76% of respondents to a survey on Hong Kong’s ecotourism plans said booking systems were necessary at ecotourism sites. The findings also pointed to a gap between demand and supply: more than 62% said Hong Kong lacked high-quality ecotourism products.
The survey was conducted by lawmaker Perry Yiu’s office and the New Youth Forum, which randomly sampled 651 Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above from 18 to 26 August 2026. A majority said the city’s countryside resources were worth developing into high-quality ecotourism attractions, while i-CABLE News reported that nearly 60% expressed interest in in-depth experiences.
Yiu said high-quality ecotourism should include professional guiding, conservation education and sustainable development. More than 80% of respondents considered conservation education and sustainable-development elements necessary, according to i-CABLE News.
Yiu urged the government to extend reservation arrangements to popular ecotourism locations and review the real-name reservation trial for the Po Pin Chau trail in Sai Kung East Country Park after the pilot ends. He said similar crowd-management procedures could be considered as other countryside attractions are developed.
He also proposed an interdepartmental ecotourism coordination team to simplify applications for permits, along with a possible certification scheme for travel agencies and guides with professional ecological knowledge. The survey found that 72.2% of respondents supported a cross-department mechanism to help the industry develop ecotourism products.
Yiu described the government’s current approach to visitor flows as passive, fragmented and reactive, saying that it repeatedly consumes public resources when popular places become busy and makes it harder to provide better experiences for visitors and residents.
Tommy Tam, chairman of the Travel Industry Council, said accredited personnel should guide tours at some ecological hotspots. He also urged the Travel Industry Authority to check social-media platforms for tours organised by unlicensed groups.