Whether a tourism conference can enable guests to remember the local beautiful mountains, waters and culture, “hearing clearly” is the most fundamental and crucial step. Just like at last year’s Yunnan Tourism Development Conference, on the observation route of Dali Ancient Town, dozens of domestic and foreign guests surrounded the tour guide. But as soon as the voices of tourists and the cries of vendors from the ancient town mixed in, the guests at the back could only frown and move forward. Later, a guest from Malaysia told me, “I only saw the hustle and bustle but didn’t hear clearly how many years this city tower has a history.”
This is not an isolated case – whether it is a conference by the West Lake in Zhejiang Province or an observation in front of the Terracotta Army in Shaanxi Province, as long as there are many people and the environment is complex, traditional loudspeakers are very useless. As a company specializing in wireless tour guide devices, Yingmi Technology is well aware of the pain points of tourism conferences. Therefore, the Yingmi 008A team tour guide device?it developed was designed to address issues such as “unclear hearing, low transmission distance, and inconvenience in use”. Now, many tourism conferences in various provinces have adopted it, and the feedback is quite solid: “This device has really been a great help.” “
I.The “annoying problems” at the tourism conference can never be solved by the old methods
Anyone who has hosted a tourism conference knows that the purpose of our event is to enable guests not only to “see” the local tourism resources but also to “understand” the stories behind them – for instance, the Broken Bridge in West Lake is not truly broken, and the terracotta Warriors each have their own expressions. However, if these details do not reach the guests’ ears, no matter how carefully prepared the explanations are, they will be in vain. However, in actual operation, the old way of explaining always encounters a bunch of “annoying problems” :
1.When there are many people and it’s noisy, the explanations simply can’t get out.
The observation groups at the tourism conference usually consist of dozens or even hundreds of people. Especially when they arrive at popular scenic spots and there are still tourists around, the sound of traditional loudspeakers is like “a stone sinking into the sea”. Last year at the Lushan Tourism Conference in Jiangxi Province, two observation teams were walking along the same trail. One was listening to the guide tell the story of Li Bai writing about the waterfall, while the other was listening to a geological expert talk about the formation of rocks. The sounds from the two loudspeakers mixed together, and the guests’ ears were filled with noise. Later, Sister Li, who was in charge of coordination, joked with me, “There was a German guest who simply took off his headphones and looked at the sign of the scenic area by himself, saying, ‘It’s better to read the text by yourself.’ I blustioned at that moment.”
The same goes for indoor exhibition halls. At a previous intangible cultural heritage exhibition area of a tourism conference in Shaanxi Province, the guide was holding a speaker to explain the production steps of batik. However, the exhibition hall was crowded with people, and the voices of conversation drowned out the explanations. The Japanese guests in the back rows could only stare at the batik cloth blindly. In the end, they pulled the translator and followed the guide, asking, “What plant is the dye just mentioned made from?” This not only wasted their time but also disrupted the visiting rhythm.
2. The guest wants to see more, but as soon as they leave, they “lose their explanation”
Who wouldn’t want to take more photos and get closer to look at the details when attending a tourism conference? However, traditional explanations are like “tying a rope”. Guests have to follow the guide closely. If they go a little further away, they won’t be able to hear anything. Last year at the Suzhou Tourism Development Conference, on the observation route along Pingjiang Road, a European travel agent wanted to film the fingering of a Pingtan artist. As soon as he stepped back five meters, he couldn’t hear the guide say, “How does the singing of Pingtan change in key?” When he came back after filming, the guide had jumped to the next topic, and he could only shake his head in regret.
There was also the observation of the Li River in Guilin. Some guests wanted to walk to the riverside to watch the ospreys fishing, but when they were far away from the guide, they didn’t listen to the “symbiotic history of ospreys and fishermen”. Later, they told me, “The water of the Li River is beautiful, but I don’t know these stories. I always feel that something is missing.” When we hold a tourism conference, isn’t it precisely to let the guests experience these “flavors”?
3. The “language barrier” and “operation barrier” for overseas guests cannot be bypassed by old equipment
Nowadays, there are many overseas guests at tourism conferences. English, Japanese and Korean are often needed. However, traditional explanations either rely on bilingual guides – where are there so many bilingual talents that can be deployed at any time? Either they rely on paper translation manuals, and the guests translate them as they walk around, having no time to listen to the explanations at all. The more troublesome part is the operation. I have used some audio guides before. They have many buttons and the interface is all in Chinese. A Thai guest held the device and pressed it for a long time, but still no sound came out. In the end, he could only follow others to “listen for fun”, with a look of disappointment in his eyes.
4. The battery life is “down”, and it can’t last a full day of activities
The observation route of the tourism conference usually lasts from morning till night and takes at least 8 hours. However, some tour guides can only be used for 4 or 5 hours on a single charge, and you have to find a place to charge them at noon. Last year at the Shaanxi Tourism Conference, some of the guests’ tour guides ran out of power at 2 p.m. We had to ask the guides to stop and wait. The originally three-hour visit to the Terracotta Army was delayed for nearly four hours, and the guests were all a bit impatient. All of us in the reception business know that once the rhythm is disrupted, the experience is completely lost.
Ii. How does the Yingmi?008A work? Solve all the “annoying matters”
The Yingmi?008A is not some “flashy” device. It is designed to address the pain points of tourism conferences – guests need to be able to hear clearly and freely explore, and organizers need it to be user-friendly and not troublesome. It meets all these requirements.
1.No matter how noisy it is, you can still hear clearly and all the noise is “filtered out”
The most practical aspect of 008A is that it does a good job in noise reduction. Whether it’s the wind and human voices in outdoor scenic spots or the noisy sounds in indoor exhibition halls, it can keep these “useless sounds” out. Last year, during the visit to Pingjiang Road in Suzhou, the laughter and chatter of the surrounding tourists and the jingling of bicycle bells could be heard constantly. However, the guests wearing the 008A headphones could clearly hear the guide say, “The bluestone pavement of this street has a history of over 300 years and does not accumulate water on rainy days.” Even details such as “The moss in the crevices of the stone slabs is a local unique variety.” were not overlooked.
A Japanese guest was particularly surprised after listening. He pulled me and said, “When I went to other places before, I could only get a rough idea in the noisy environment. This time, I can even hear the lyrics sung by the Pingtan artists clearly. It’s so unexpected.” This is the power of noise reduction – there’s no need for the guide to shout or for the guests to gather around; you can understand it quietly.
2. Walk freely within 200 meters without following the tour guide in a crowd
The 008A uses digital transmission, unlike traditional loudspeakers which can “transmit far”. It can be heard clearly within a range of 200 meters. Last year at the Lijiang River Tourism Conference in Guilin, the guide was giving a lecture on the riverside saying, “It takes 200 million years for karst landforms to form.” A guest walked to the riverside to watch the ospreys and was nearly 200 meters away from the guide. When he came back, he told me, “Just now you said that ospreys have been helping fishermen catch fish for over a hundred years. This is so interesting.”
There is also a visit to the ancient city. Guests who want to get up close to see the intangible cultural heritage of paper-cutting and take pictures of the details of ancient buildings no longer need to worry about “losing the explanations”. They can wander around freely and listen to everything completely. Manager Wang, who is in charge of the reception at the Guilin Conference, said, “Before, there were always people asking, ‘What did you miss just now?’ After using 008A, such questions have become much fewer. The guests have a great time and we are also relieved.”
3. Multiple channels do not mix sounds, and it won’t get chaotic even when multiple teams are browsing together
Tourism conferences often divide guests into several teams and they take different routes at the same time. If all of them use loudspeakers, the voices will surely be mixed together. 008A has multiple channels. Each team uses an independent channel. Even if the routes are close, they won’t interfere with each other.
Just like last year’s Lushan Conference in Jiangxi Province, five teams walked simultaneously on the trail. One listened to cultural anecdotes, another to geological knowledge, and the third to explore animal and plant resources. Each team used different channels of 008A, and only the explanations of their own team could be heard in the guests’ headphones. Sister Li said, “Before, when multiple teams were running in parallel, there were always people complaining, ‘I got confused.’ This time, no one brought up this matter, and the order on the spot has improved a lot.”
4. It has a long battery life and is easy to operate, making it understandable even for overseas guests
The receiver of 008A can last for 12 hours on a single charge. From the opening ceremony observation at 9 a.m. to the industrial base visit at 6 p.m., the power is sufficient throughout the day, and there is no need to look for places to charge it in the middle. Moreover, it is particularly easy to operate – the receiver has only one power button. When a guest holds it and presses it, it automatically connects to the corresponding channel. There is no need to adjust parameters or pair. Even overseas guests can use it just by looking at the icon.
Last year at the Guangdong Tourism Conference, a guest from Singapore used it for the first time. After pressing the power button and hearing the English explanation, he smiled and said, “It’s much simpler than the devices I used before. There’s no need to ask someone to help adjust the language.” We can also set up multi-language channels in advance, including Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean. Overseas guests no longer need to rely on translators to “pass on messages”, and can directly hear the detailed explanations.
III.?It is not only used in China but also favored by tourism conferences abroad
The Yingmi 008A is not only useful at tourism conferences in China, but also finds it convenient to use in many tourism promotion activities abroad. After all, whether it’s a castle in Europe, an island in Southeast Asia, or a historical site in the Americas, the need for “clear hearing” is the same.
Last year at the Loire Valley Castle Festival in France, the organizers were always troubled by the guests’ inability to keep up with the explanations – the castle had many floors and rooms. The guests wanted to explore on their own, but as soon as they left the guide, they couldn’t hear clearly. After using 008A, whether the guests were enjoying the view from the observation tower on the top floor or viewing the ruins in the dungeon on the ground floor, they could clearly hear the guide say, “How did the defense system of this ancient castle prevent enemy attacks?” and “What did the medieval nobles do in the living room?” The person in charge of the Castle Festival said, “Previously, people always asked, ‘Could you repeat the details of the moat you just mentioned?’ Now, no one asks anymore and everyone can hear it all.”
The same goes for the island promotion events in Southeast Asia. Last year, Phuket Island in Thailand held a tourism conference. On the seaside observation route, the sound of sea breeze and waves was particularly loud, and traditional loudspeakers were completely ineffective. After using 008A, the guests could clearly hear “the ecological protection measures of this sea area” and “how to design the diving route safely”. An Australian travel agent said, “When I came to the island for investigation before, I always missed the key information. This time, I even wrote down ‘the best diving season is April and May’, so I can recommend it to the clients when I get back.”
There is also an exhibition of Mayan civilization sites in the Americas. The sites are large in area and the visiting route is long. Traditional explanations can only lead the guests along. With 008A, guests can be scattered on different steps of the pyramid while listening to the guide talk about “How the Mayans used astronomical knowledge to design the pyramid” and “the details of the sacrificial ceremony”. The staff of the site exhibition said, “Previously, guests always complained that ‘they were tired from walking and couldn’t hear everything.’ Now, everyone can take their time to explore and listen carefully, and the feedback has improved a lot.”
Iv. The Original intention of making Equipment: To ensure that every explanation is not “wasted”
Yingmi’s development of the 008A team guide device is either to create more “high-tech” products or to solve the old problem of “unclear hearing” at tourism conferences. We have put so much effort into preparing the routes and refining the presentation content for our tourism conference. What a pity it would be if the guests missed the stories or failed to fully understand the culture due to poor equipment?
Just like at the closing ceremony of this year’s Zhejiang Tourism Development Conference, the representative of the Malaysian Tourism Board said, “The most unexpected thing this time was that I could clearly hear every detail – from the legend of the Broken Bridge in West Lake to the tea-making process of Longjing tea. Not a single detail was missed. This small device made me feel that China’s tourism reception is particularly meticulous.”
In fact, this is the effect that Yingmi aims to achieve: whether it’s Chinese or foreign guests, whether they are in ancient cities, mountainous areas or by the seaside, they can listen to every explanation with peace of mind, without having to listen closely, without having to ask repeatedly, and without leaving with the regret of “not understanding”. In the future, we will continue to optimize 008A, such as adding more channels in minority languages to enable guests from more countries to use it. Let’s further optimize the charging box to make batch management more convenient. In short, we just want this “voice assistant” to be of help at more tourism conferences and let good stories reach more people’s hearts.