Hong Kong urged to take advantage of great outdoors to boost tourism - Hong-Kong-urged-to-take-advantage-of-great-outdoors-to-boost-tourism
Nearly four in five residents believe Hong Kong should take advantage of its ecology to further develop “green” and “blue” tourism, a survey has found, prompting calls for government departments to work together to streamline procedures and enhance support services for growth in both areas.
Tourism-sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung and the New Youth Forum think tank on Tuesday announced the results of a survey of 849 Hongkongers aged 18 and up who were asked for their views on tourism resources.
The survey, which was conducted in November and earlier this month, found that 76 per cent of residents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that Hong Kong had “a rich natural ecological environment which was well worth recommending to travellers”.
Likewise, 79.6 per cent said they agreed the city’s islands and coastline were also attractions they would recommend to travellers, while 80.4 per cent said Hong Kong’s geoparks were also worth a visit.
However, 33.5 per cent of respondents also said they did not realise the city had a Unesco-grade Global Geopark in Sai Kung.
Yiu said apart from more promotion, authorities also needed to improve the area’s connectivity, as it was not convenient to head there by water during the cool autumn and winter seasons due to rough seas, while the sole land route towards the park was in need of maintenance.
“The road has not been maintained for many years … and I haven’t heard any government departments are pushing for improvements,” he said.
“If these supporting facilities aren’t improved, it will be very difficult to promote this geological park, and it is understandable that 33 per cent of citizens don’t know we have a world-class geological park. We were also quite surprised by this.”
“Green” tourism is defined as environmentally friendly tourist activities while “blue” covers coastal and maritime tourism.
Other attractions covered by the survey included the former Yau Ma Tei Police Station, a popular site for mainland Chinese tourists, which Yiu said authorities should take advantage of and open up.
“We hope the government will seriously consider enhancing its openness, such as using it as a centre for promoting the police image or as a small museum,” he said, instead of the current situation in which the station is mostly closed off and visitors can only take pictures around the exterior.
He also urged authorities to further open up the border town of Sha Tau Kok, especially the unique Chung Ying Street, which was shared by locals there and mainlanders.