Border Tourism

    Li+Fangzhou

    MSSC Sustainable Tourism

    The Chinese university of Hong Kong； Hong Kong， China， 999077

    【Abstract】The diversity is the foundation of tourism.Border regions witness the change of the history， and retain valuable heritages and unique villages.Because of the common border protection regulations， natural beauties and cultural landscapes can be also well preserved， leaving abundant and precious tourism resources for younger generations.Combining with the sha tau kok border region and the surrounding site，analysis of the feasibility of border tourism and challenges.

    【Key Words】border regions； border tourism ；tourism resources ；Sha Tau Kok area

    1 The overview of Sha Tau Kok resources

    1.1 Geographical location

    Sha Tao Kok is located in the northeast of New Territories， which is the border area of Shenzhen and Hong Kong， and the narrow Sha Tau Kok River is the boundary line. So it is very close to Shenzhen， if you stand in front of the boundary line you can see the Shenzhen's urban landscapes. The maritime geographical environment is also very special and superior. Furthermore， there are also some border villages with their own characteristics near the Sha Tau Kok area.

    1.2 Human resource

    1.2.1 Chung Ying Street

    Chung Ying Street， originated in the Qing dynasty. When the boundary river dried up gradually， people in Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen built up a natural bridge for people from both sides to trade with each other. The street experienced nearly 100 years busy until the foundation of People Republic of China. Chung Ying Street as a witness of colonial lives， still has abundant historical value and plenty of historical artifacts such as the boundary tablet， warning bell， old well and banyan. All of these antiques record the memory and history of Hong Kong after the Opium War. So Tourism could renew the fortune of the Chung Ying Street.

    1.2.2 Boundary landscape

    Since the sharply economic，cultural and historical differences exist between the two border areas， the landscapes and scenes are distinctive： with the reform and opening up in China since 1978， Shenzhen changed dramatically whose economic growth is far beyond our expectations， so the scene of Shenzhen is the urban styles with numbers of tall buildings and dazzling lights. Meanwhile， on the other side， Sha Tau Kok has its peaceful and simple rural landscapes because of the restricted protection policy and Hong Kong's development plan. This area is the ideal place to watch the boundary landscape differences， border scenery and great cultural contrast. Communities living in border areas often find themselves in a complex reality of living “in the middle，” between two societies and cultures， between two economic systems and in the shadow of changing international relations[1].

    1.2.3 British colonial heritage

    After the Opium War， Hong Kong became a British colony. The whole society was impressively affected by the British culture. Therefore， we can still find a great deal of British colonial heritages scattering around the city. In the Sha Tau Kok area， one positive outcome of restricted protection policy is that the British colonial heritages can be preserved well and intact. How to utilize these fortunes passed by old generations？ It is an urgent question needed to be answer.

    1.3 Natural resource

    Sha tau kok area unique tourism resources is the core of the tourism industry， has the rich Marine resources and natural resources in the countryside. Based on the boundary position of sha tau kok area， may be the most appropriate choice for tourism.

    2 The feasibility analysis

    The shopping tourism is in the main position of Hong Kong tourism， in the meantime， the nature tourism is developing steadily in recent year. Because of the reunification of Hong Kong， in my opinion， the border tourism is the new growth point. So trend that the shopping tourism is the center， nature tourism and border tourism develop together is a good choose. The reasons are as following：

    2.1 Tourism resource

    With rich resources and complementary conditions， cooperation of border tourism in this region has favorable foundations and is feasible for countries concerned.As discussed above， the tourism resources， which contain human resource and natural resource， in the Sha Tau Kok area is not only abundant but also unique.

    2.2 Basic transportation

    Traffic is an important part in the development of tourism， and convenient transportation infrastructure significantly reduce time and cost. Either internal or external traffic should be well done， sha tau kok crossings and big port of the lotus pond will be completed in 2018， the two main channel. At that time， the port can accommodate more tourists to visit.

    2.3 Requirements of economic development

    The economy of Hong Kong's border regions is relatively under-develop with single industrial structure， and the per capita income is low. Many people immigrated to more developed place， leading the labor of Sha Tau Kok is insufficient. Even if the national economy have been affected by the economic and financial crises， but the tourism registered a very dynamic evolution[2]. So tourism provides an opportunity for residents to improve their life conditions and earn a better life

    3 Issues

    3.1 The Policy restriction

    The Sha Tau Kok is a forbidden area， where people cannot enter and exit without permission. On the other side， permission applications will take plenty of time， increasing the visitors time cost. Therefore， the regulation of the closed Sha Tau Kok area is the largest barrier to the border tourism. Until now， the timetable of opening up the Sha Tau Kok area is still on the way. So without the open policy， the development of border tourism is impossible.

    3.2 The fund constraints

    The investment for developing tourism infrastructure and transportation is enormous. Since the Sha Tau Kok is a forbidden area， government and business supports are scarce. Moreover， it requires a long term for tourism investors to obtain the investment return. Considering the risk-benefit analysis， the tourism and traffic companies avoid to fund more money into the Sha Tau Kok development projects.

    3.3 The imperfect infrastructure

    The significance of infrastructure as a factor in destination development， it will be part of the classical demand for international tourism functions. Excellent infrastructures can make the tourists enjoy the leisure time. If the infrastructures are imperfect， tourists will feel the discontent to the trip. Because the location of Sha Tau Kok area is far away from the downtown， the public facilities are inconvenient， restaurants are small， and the hotels are deficient. Therefore， developing the border tourism needs advanced and modern infrastructures， sound tourism facilities.

    3.4 The inconvenient transportation

    The transportation in the Sha Tau Kok area is not convenience than other places， since the geographical location is remote and the MTR is not established， and the taxi is rare. If the direct bus is the only traffic tool， there may be raised some issues， such as the limit number of tourists， the time constraint，and the high-ticket price.So the inconvenient transportation is another problem.

    4 Prospects

    4.1 The policy recommendations

    4.1.1 Establish local open policy， strengthen the tourism resource development and protection

    Border protection regulations is to prevent smuggling and protect the security of the border. With the return of Hong Kong， the mainland and Hong Kong have already does not exist， so you can open in sha tau kok， is conducive to the development of border tourism. In addition， the tourism resources are valuable， sha tau kok area can ask professional personage to do maintenance work， local residents also to improve the protection consciousness， in order to ensure the smooth progress in border tourism.

    4.1.2 Improve transportation condition

    The tourism transportation is an important influencing factor of regional tourism development[3].The convenient transportation can save time and enhance reception capacity. So the government can improve the transportationsituation and increase the number of buses and taxis. The MRT is the feasible traffic tool in Hong Kong； therefore， building the MRT station is another good choice.

    4.1.3 Upgrade the infrastructure construction

    Upgrading the infrastructure construction， such as restaurants， toilets， lounges and small hotels， can attract more people to go sightseeing in the area. The high building hotel maybe not suitable in this area， since there is not enough space for parking area and the high building will affect the overall scenery， so the traditional houses can be converted to the small hotels， which can make tourists experience the Hong Kong traditional living conditions and enjoy the atmosphere.

    4.1.4 Adopt diversified development strategy

    Exploiting the diversified resource can satisfied different people. Except for the historical and cultural resource， the marine resource can also be fully developed. For example， Sha Tau Kok area sea is beautiful and the Public Pier is the longest in Hong Kong， so the water projects can be very popular， such as the pleasant boat， the wakeboarding， swimming， and lot of water projects. Since the water projects are full of fun and stimulation， it can attract many young people and increase the travel pleasure.

    4.2 The prospect of Sha Tau Kok border tourism

    The border tourism can change the Sha Tau Kok area economic situation and make use of the tourism resource. So if the opening policy is implemented， accompanying by the increasing transportations and competed infrastructures， the border tourism in the Sha Tau Kok area will develop fast.

    5 Conclusion

    As discussed above， the conclusion of the Sha Tau Kok border tourism is obvious. In short， rich tourism resources， basic traffic， local residents desire with the development of economy， increase the feasibility of border tourism. However， the Sha Tau Kok area also faces some issues and challenges that need to be solved， such as the policy and fund constraint，the imperfect infrastructure and transportation， and the low market attraction. Therefore， according to the issues above， we put forward the measures， for example establish the policy， upgrade the infrastructure construction， and improve the resource protection. If the Sha Tau Kok area opens up and gets together with the nearby border area， they can form a large border tourism area， furthermore， broaden the Hong Kongs tourism market. So it is a good choice to develop the border tourism[4].

    References

    [1]Gelbman， Alon &Timothy， Dallen J.（2011）. Border complexity， tourism and international exclaves： A case study. Annals of Tourism Research， 38， 110-131.

    [2]Virgil Marcu ； Carmen Dumitrescu .（2013）.TOURISM CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT. Lucr?ri ?tiin?ifice ： Management Agricol， 15.

    [3]LIU Ying-fei LI Yue-zheng.（2011）. The Reserch of the Influnence of the Tourism Transportation to the Tourism Development in Changhai. Science， Issue 1，149-150.

    [4]Dimitrios Stylidis， Avital Biran， Jason Sit.（2014）. Residents' support for tourism development： The role of residents' place image and perceived tourism impacts. Tourism Management， 45， 260–274.