An assessment on the opportunities to develop ecotourism in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is famous for its dense, highrise-populated urban fabric. When tourists consider visiting Hong Kong, most would think of Hong Kong as a “city-break” destination rather than a place to explore the natural and cultural landscapes. Nevertheless, little that people may know of, Hong Kong’s urban area only covers about 30% of its land area, the rest of the 70% is in fact covered with various types of landscapes. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring the tremendous opportunities for Hong Kong to develop its ecotourism in its rural areas– an alternative operation of tourism that encourages more “interaction with the land” to induce a deeper understanding of Hong Kong’s local traditional culture and its strategic ecological networks. The “interaction with the land” via the operation of ecotourism in Hong Kong can be explored in two spectrums. First, assessment will be made to a few case studies of Hong Kong’s rural landscapes, evaluating whether these areas have the varieties of landscapes and ecology types for travellers to explore. The choices of case studies are mostly the working landscapes in Hong Kong - traditionally there are a lot of agricultural and aquacultural activities in the rural areas, together with the village settlements, creating a lot of interesting cultural landscapes. Second, evaluations will be made in discussing whether the tourism and land development policies in Hong Kong are helpful in guiding and nurturing the growth of ecotourism here at all. “Interaction with the land” incorporates more than just interacting with the physicality of the landscape. It induces a “refreshment” or an evaluation on the mindset, triggering new perspectives of seeing things, or even a new interpretation of man’s relationship with nature. Not only it benefits the tourists that come to visit the various types of landscapes, but it also benefits the local residents who host the guests. The operation process of ecotourism also helps educate the locals on environmental awareness. Therefore, it is an industry worth investigating.