The Challenges
Since becoming a tourist hotspot in 1979, Sweet Gum Woods faces its busiest period during the year-end holidays, coinciding with Hong Kong’s tourism peak. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) must ensure both environmental preservation and a seamless visitor experience.
Solutions
The “Red Leaf Express” Webpage
Leaf color depends heavily on weather conditions. To help visitors plan their trips, AFCD updates a dedicated Red Leaf Express webpage every Friday during the season with a leaf index. This tool spreads out crowds, reduces overcrowding, and protects the delicate woodland.
Real-Time Automated People Counters
In 2022, AFCD installed the first automated PYRO people counter, along the main access route of Tai Tong Shan Road. Designed to blend into the natural landscape, the permanent counter uses infrared technology to capture visitor data and transmit it wirelessly to AFCD’s analysis platform. This system replaces manual counting and provides valuable insights for operational decisions.
Eco Counter Limited has deployed 86 counting systems across 12 country parks and 2 special areas managed by AFCD, with more planned to phase out manual counting entirely.
Chan Sin-wai, Senior Country Park Officer, AFCD“The counting system captures real-time people data through infrared technology and transmits the data wirelessly to our internal data analysis platform. The information provides very helpful management guide to our daily operations arrangement.”
Outcomes
To manage the surge in visitors, AFCD used data to enhance facilities, including:
- Laying wood chips to protect tree roots
- Increasing portable toilets
- Deploying more staff for patrolling and guidance
Data was also shared with the Transport Department to coordinate shuttle services and with the Police Force for peak-hour patrols. Visitors were encouraged by AFCD to use the Red Leaf Index and real-time population density updates to plan their trips, ensuring both conservation and a positive experience.
Learnings
Real-time people counting offers critical insights into visitor behavior and site attractiveness. Short-term data helps test infrastructure capacity before major events, while long-term trends inform infrastructure improvements and investment decisions.
Real-time people counting provides valuable insights into the attractiveness of a point of interest, how many people visited the spot, and in what conditions. From short-term counting results, our counting system helps the government body like AFCD to plan logistics and facility management ahead of significant festivals and peak travel seasons.
On the other hand, long-term counting results can give the city an idea about visitation behaviors, which helps relevant authorities to assess the need for infrastructure improvement in urban and natural areas, and justify investment.
This case highlights AFCD’s innovative approach to sustainable tourism management and serves as a model for other organizations looking to use data for outdoor facility management.
