Officials on Saturday said about 1,500 people registered to visit the Po Pin Chau trail in Sai Kung East Country Park on the first day of a real-name reservation trial.

Under the scheme, up to 500 visitors are admitted during each two-hour slot, with the daily number capped at 2,000.

Visitors must book via the Klook platform using their real name, which will be verified upon arrival.

The trial covers all weekends in September, the last of which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as the National Day Golden Week in October.

Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Mickey Lai said operations were smooth on the opening day.

"Especially because it’s the first day, we set up some information centres, and we're doing our best to manage crowd flows," he said.

"Today's turnout is normal and similar to what we've seen in the past. We will continue to monitor crowd flow every weekend, paying particular attention during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week holidays."

Lai added that walk-in visitors were admitted because some reservation slots were unfilled.


Edited by Robert Kemp