The white sandy beaches of the Maldives are so soft that they feel like stepping on your feet, and the sea water is so blue that it reflects the coconut shadows. However, tourists who come here always have a bit of a regret – they can’t understand the explanations clearly when crossing the island, they can’t speak the language, and the equipment can’t withstand the sea breeze and salt fog. It was not until Yingmi brought the customized wireless interpretation system?that the stories in this blue sea and sky could finally be heard and understood clearly.
I. Maldives’ “Sweet Woes” : Island Tourism and Culture Hide Pain Points for Tour Guides
When it comes to the Maldives, who wouldn’t think of that “blue sea, clear sky, clear water and fine sand”? More than 1,200 coral islands are scattered across the Indian Ocean. The white sandy beach of Paradise Island feels soft when stepped on, the sea water of Sun Island is as blue as a gem, and the coral reefs of Double Fish Island are filled with colorful fish. Every year, millions of global tourists come here for this “divine scenery”, but it has been held back many times by the problem of tour guides.
1.The “fragmentation” predicament of cross-island guided Tours
In the Maldives, each island has its own resort. If tourists want to visit more islands, they have to take speedboats back and forth. In the past, one had to rely on the tour guide to follow along, but as soon as the wind blew or the waves hit the speedboat, the tour guide’s voice would be blown away long ago. Either give a paper manual with just a few pictures and lines of text. If you want to know “When do manta rays migrate?” or “How to protect coral reefs?”, you won’t be able to find it even after rummaging through the manual. Last year, a British tourist named Lena, who was on her honeymoon, squatted beside a coconut grove on Laguna Island and asked three staff members, “How many years have these coconut trees been planted?” None of them could give a clear answer. In the end, she sighed and said to her husband, “Just looking at the scenery, I always feel something is missing.”
2. The “Discontinuity” of Multilingual Demand
Tourists come from all over here – Europeans want English and German, Southeast Asians love Chinese and Japanese, and Middle Eastern tourists have to use Arabic. However, most of the tour guides in resorts can speak at most one or two languages. Manager Rashid of Kani Island Resort joked with us, “Last month, a group of Korean tourists came, pointed at the fish at the bottom of the sea and asked questions. None of us knew Korean, so we could only use a mobile phone translation app to translate sentence by sentence. The tourists waited for a long time looking at their phones, and finally shook their heads and left. I felt embarrassed.”
3. The “Disturbance Problem” of the Marine Environment
The environment of the island is too “unfriendly” to the equipment: the sea breeze carries salt spray, and after a long time of blowing, the interfaces of the equipment will rust. The waves are “whooshing”, and tourists are chatting, laughing and playing on the beach. Traditional loudspeakers simply can’t block out these noises. Under the scorching sun, the battery of the device quickly became hot and shut down. Manafaru Island had previously used an audio guide of another brand, but it ran out of power within less than two hours. Moreover, due to salt spray seeping in, the signal was intermittent. Eventually, it had to be abandoned.
4. The “free Demand” of Self-guided Tours
Nowadays, tourists all love “slow travel” and don’t want to rush into a tour group – they want to walk slowly on the beach and stay longer beside the coral reefs. But without explanations, one can only just stare at the beautiful scenery aimlessly. There was an American family with a child. The father, John, pointed at the little shark in the water and asked the child, “Do you know why it doesn’t bite?” The child shook his head. John could only take out his mobile phone to look it up. After searching for a long time, he still couldn’t explain clearly. Finally, the child lost interest and pulled him to play with the sand.
These problems have dampened the “cultural and tourism charm” of the Maldives, and local tourism operators are all in a hurry to find solutions.
Ii. Yingmi’s “Island Customization Solution” : Technology fits every detail
After learning about these pain points in the Maldives, Yingmi did not use the regular scenic area’s tour guide system as a makeshift solution. Instead, they specially formed a small team and spent a month on the island, walking from the white sandy beaches of Paradise Island to the coral reefs of Ayada Island, thoroughly understanding the needs of every corner. Finally, they developed a “full-scenario adapted” wireless tour guide solution:
1. Portable and durable team explanation system: Breaking through cross-island and environmental interference
Tourists want to take speedboats and wander in the open air. The equipment should be light and durable. The team explanation host chosen by Yingmi weighs only 85 grams, almost the weight of an egg. It doesn’t feel heavy at all when tourists carry it in their pockets. The shell has undergone salt spray resistance treatment. No matter how long it is exposed to the sea, the interface will not rust. The battery life can last up to 12 hours. We can go out to sea at 9 a.m. and return to the resort at 6 p.m. The battery is still sufficient.
The most crucial aspect is anti-interference – it adopts 2.4G wireless digital transmission technology and also incorporates a customized noise reduction algorithm. Last May Day, during the trial operation, there were many tourists. The guide was standing 10 meters away at the coral reef viewing platform on Baijin Island and told the tourists, “There are over 30 kinds of fish in this coral. You can see small sharks swimming by around 3 p.m.” The tourists wearing receivers could hear it clearly, even filtering out the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. The tour guide of the resort, Amin, said, “Before, when I was giving explanations by the seaside, I had to shout at the top of my lungs. Even if tourists gathered around to listen, I could only grab a few words. Now, it’s not necessary. Tourists can understand even if they spread out. It’s much more relaxing.”
2. Multilingual self-service tour guide system: Making cultural interpretation barrier-free
To ensure that global tourists can understand, Yingmi’s self-guided tour machines support 12 languages – English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and even include niche languages such as Thai and Indonesian. The content was not written casually. It was carefully crafted by the Maldives Tourism Bureau in collaboration with Marine biology experts, sentence by sentence: “Sichuan-style bonsai” was replaced with “coral reef planting techniques”, and “ancient plaque culture” with “knowledge of manta ray protection”. Each sentence is in line with local characteristics.
For instance, in the tropical flower garden of Hakula Island, there is a patch of “Spring Sword” orchids introduced from China. When tourists walk over with their tour guide devices, the equipment will automatically say: “This orchid is from China. In the hot and humid weather of the Maldives, it needs to be watered twice a day, in the morning and evening, and also needs to be shaded.” When they reach the coral reef model, they would say, “This coral reef has been around for 10,000 years. It’s the home of fish and shrimp. Don’t touch the live corals. You’ll hurt them.” A German tourist named Peter, who spent the whole afternoon browsing with a tour guide, said, “In the past, I relied on translation software to read introductions and was always afraid of missing the key points. Now, I even know when corals spawn. It’s too detailed.”
3. Self-service shared rental system: Adapted to the free needs of “slow travel”
Tourists love independent travel, so Yingmi has placed self-service rental lockers in the lobbies and docks of each resort. Tourists can rent by scanning the code. Visa, Mastercard and Alipay can all be used for payment. When you return it, just put it in the charging case. The device will automatically disinfect and charge. The next visitor can take it and use it. The rental cabinet is pasted with both Chinese and English instructions, all of which are ICONS. Even if you can’t understand the characters, you can still operate by following the punctuation marks in the pictures.
The data from Lili Island is the most obvious: after the rental system was put into use, 80% of the tourists chose self-guided Tours. A Singaporean mother with two children rented three vehicles at once and said, “In the past, when we went on a tour group, the children always couldn’t keep up. Now, each of us takes one. We can listen whenever we want and stop whenever we want. The eldest child can even listen to the little shark’s explanations over and over again. He even tells his classmates when he gets home.”
4. Zoned Explanation System: Adapted to the “multi-scene switching” of the resort
The resort scenes in the Maldives are diverse – beaches, oceanariums, SPA areas, and restaurants. Each place has its own unique charm. The zoning system of Eagle Rice can “automatically switch” : when tourists walk from the beach to the aquarium, the equipment will stop to “Beach Safety Knowledge” and start to talk about “Introduction to Marine Life”. When reaching the SPA area, they would say, “The traditional massage in the Maldives uses coconut oil and local herbs, which can relieve fatigue.”
Nafisha, the SPA manager of Ayada Island, said, “Previously, guests would always ask, ‘How did you get this massage?’ I had to explain it dozens of times a day. Now, when guests walk into the SPA area, the equipment explains itself. I can focus on serving the guests, and they also find it convenient.”
Iii. “Localization + Globalization” Behind Technology: Not Just about equipment, but also a cultural bridge.
When developing this system, Yingmi did not merely focus on the “parameters”, but also wanted to help spread the culture of the Maldives – every detail was filled with the intention of “letting overseas tourists understand” :
1. Localization of content: Make the explanations “have the flavor of the Maldives”
To avoid the explanations being monotonous, the Yingmi team chatted with veteran fishermen from the Maldives and those who have been in the tourism industry for decades, collecting many “exclusive stories” : for instance, the white sandy beach of Paradise Island was formed over hundreds of years when coral debris was washed ashore by the waves. The fishermen of Sun Island used to fish with “coconut shells as floats”. The name of Double Fish Island comes from the fact that the reefs on the island look like double fish. All these stories are included in the explanations. What tourists hear is not only “knowledge points”, but also warmth.
For instance, when talking about the “Han-style stone lantern” (introduced by the Maldives from China), it would be added: “This lantern was made by a master invited by the Maldives Tourism Bureau from China in 2010. It has the style of the Han Dynasty in China. When it lights up at night, it symbolizes’ friendship between China and the Maldives’.” When talking about small sharks, they would say: “The small sharks in the Maldives do not bite people. Fishermen all call them ‘children of the ocean’. Every May, they also hold activities to teach people how to protect them.” These details make overseas tourists feel “familiar” and help them understand the culture of the Maldives better.
2. Globalized services: Allowing overseas Tourists to “use with confidence”
Yingmi has been providing interpretation systems for European museums and American theme parks for many years. It also has a partnership with Huawei and has rich experience in overseas projects. In the Maldives, Yingmi has collaborated with local equipment maintenance companies and set up three service points – one each on Male, Paradise Island and Ayada Island. When tourists’ equipment malfunctions, someone will come to their place for repair within one hour. They also offer 7×24-hour technical support in both Chinese and English. Tourists can reach them by sending emails or making phone calls.
Last month, a Japanese tourist was on Manafaru Island when the tour guide device suddenly went out of noise. Less than an hour after making a phone call, local maintenance personnel arrived in a speedboat. After checking, it was found that the relay equipment by the seaside had been exposed to rain. It was fixed quickly. The tourist wrote in the feedback: “I never expected that on such a remote island, the service would be so fast. It’s so unexpected.”
3. Future adaptability: Reserve room for upgrades to align with the new trends in culture and tourism
Yingmi has also left an upgrade port for AR/VR in the system – in the future, when tourists wear AR glasses and listen to explanations, they can see “the gradual growth of corals” and “virtual images of little sharks swimming around”. If connected to the metaverse, tourists can also experience in an “immersive” way how fishermen catch fish using traditional methods. This aligns perfectly with the Maldives Tourism Bureau’s idea of “developing smart cultural tourism”. They also told us, “When we upgrade in the future, we will still contact you.”
Just as Yingmi provided solutions for the Guizhou Museum and the Taihu Lake Scenic Area in Suzhou, in the Maldives, we are not merely “selling equipment”, but also offering them “long-term cultural and tourism solutions”.
Iv. The Globalization Logic of Yingmi: “Island Cultural Tourism Solutions” from the Perspective of the Maldives
The project in the Maldives is an example of Yingmi’s “global service”. Over the years, when undertaking overseas projects, Yingmi has always adhered to the rule of “scene customization + global adaptation” :
First, conduct research – for instance, if the Maldives is hot and humid, install salt spray prevention equipment. In Europe, it’s cold in winter, so add low-temperature battery life. The Middle East has religious customs, so the content of the explanation should be adjusted to avoid sensitive points.
Compliance again – All exported equipment has passed international certifications such as CE and ROHS. We handle all the qualifications required locally in advance, so customers don’t have to worry.
Finally, long-term services are provided – cooperative service points have been set up in 15 countries. Whether it is a museum in Europe or a cultural site in Africa, tourists’ problems can be solved in a timely manner.
This is the same as Yingmi’s idea of “making explanations cooler” – not only to make tourists “hear clearly”, but also to spread the cultures of different countries far and wide.
Conclusion: Amidst the blue sea and sky, every journey is endowed with both “sound” and “color”
Amidst the blue sea and coconut groves of the Maldives, the wireless tour guide system of Yingmi is not merely a device; it is more like a “cultural bridge” – enabling European tourists to understand the stories of coral reefs, Asian tourists to learn about the history of the islands, and Middle Eastern tourists to experience the friendliness of cross-cultural communication.
In the future, Yingmi?will further refine its “Island Cultural Tourism Solution” – from the Maldives to Bali, from Phuket to Seychelles, allowing the beauty and culture of more islands to reach the hearts of global tourists through clear and vivid explanations.
After all, a good trip is not just about “seeing the scenery”, but also about “understanding the scenery” – this is the responsibility of Yingmi as a technology enterprise, and it is also our original intention to help the global cultural and tourism industry develop.