Hong Kong's Scenic Beaches Overwhelmed by Mass Tourism During Labour Day

A sea of 500 tents covered the white sands of remote Ham Tin Wan in Sai Kung during a recent holiday, turning one of Hong Kong’s most scenic beaches into a makeshift campsite for crowds of overnight visitors. Some of the campers had joined tours from mainland China for the Labour Day “golden week” holiday, sleeping in rows of identical tents and gathering around camping tables for hotpot dinners, with ingredients hauled across the border by their guides. By morning, the sink in the beach’s only public bathroom was clogged with food scraps from people washing their dishes. Some tents were left standing for the next group of tourists arriving that afternoon. One mainland tour guide, a computer science graduate in his twenties who gave his surname as Shu, admitted he was working illegally in Hong Kong on a tourist visa. His four customers had each paid 888 yuan (US$131) for a two-day camping trip, but most of the money did not go to him, he said, declining to reveal how much he earned. Such scenes underscore a key question for Hong Kong as it tries to reposition itself as a destination for visitors seeking experiences beyond shopping centres and luxury goods: can the city turn its beaches, islands, villages and country parks into economic assets without allowing “ecotourism” to become another form of mass tourism? The answer, according to experts, conservationists and operators, depends on whether authorities can shift from simply promoting scenic spots to actively managing visitor flows, enforcing rules, supporting local communities and ensuring nature-based tourism generates enough economic value to fund conservation.