In the summer of Ningbo Bay Resort, sea breeze, beach and sunset are always present. This comprehensive seaside tourist destination not only features the natural scenery of the “Blue Bay Greenway”, but also bears the historical imprint of the “Coastal Defense Site” and offers the vibrant projects of the “Water Sports Center”. Before July 2025, tourists who came here were often troubled by the trouble of “finding a guide” : if they wanted to learn about the history of the coastal defense site, they had to wait for a human guide to be scheduled. Foreign tourists, unable to understand the Chinese descriptions at the landscape signs, can only take photos. Families with children want to arrange their schedules flexibly, but they are “tied up” by the fixed explanation time. The Yingmi QR code explanation system has solved these problems. Now, tourists can scan the code with wechat or Alipay and listen to the explanations to explore the resort area. With the clear sound of stories in the sea breeze, every scenic spot has its own unique “sound tag”.
I. The “old problem” of guiding Tours in Ningbo Bay Resort: Good scenery is hard to tell a good story
As a popular coastal tourist destination, the demands of visitors to Ningbo Bay Resort have never been just about “strolling around and leaving” – some want to learn about the ecological knowledge of natural landscapes, some want to understand the historical background of coastal defense sites, and overseas tourists want to experience the fun of water sports. However, the traditional guided tour mode has precisely shut out all these demands.
1. Tourists are scattered and hard to cover, and manual explanations often fail to cover all aspects.
Ningbo Bay Resort covers a vast area, with its core attractions scattered across regions such as the “Blue Bay Greenway”, “Coastal Defense Sites”, “Water Sports Center”, and “Tidal Flats and Wetlands”, spanning over 10 kilometers. A human tour guide can lead a maximum of four groups a day, and each group can only cover 3 to 4 core scenic spots. Most tourists who visit separately cannot find the explanations at all. Manager Chen, who is in charge of reception, said, “One weekend, an elderly couple spent half an hour visiting the coastal defense site. They asked the staff, ‘When was this city wall built?’ Only then did we learn that they missed the morning’s guided tour and could only arrange for someone to give a brief introduction at the last minute. However, many historical details were still not fully explained. The elderly couple felt quite regretful.”
The problems at the water sports center are even more prominent: most of the tourists make scattered reservations for the projects. If they want to know the “operating principles of sailboats” and “safety precautions”, they can only wait for the coaches to answer when they are free. During peak hours, the coaches are busy guiding the participants and have no energy to give explanations. As a result, many tourists can only “play blindly”, greatly reducing their experience.
2. The demand for multiple languages is high, and language barriers “block” overseas tourists
With the international promotion of Ningbo Bay, the number of overseas tourists from Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and America has been increasing year by year. However, the guided tour service of the resort has not kept up – the landscape signs are only in both Chinese and English, and most of the English translations are “literal translations”, for example, “mudflat wetland” is translated as “Mudflat wetland”. Overseas tourists simply do not understand that this is an “ecological area submerged by seawater during high tide and exposed after low tide”. Manual multilingual explanations are only temporarily arranged during holidays and are mostly in basic Japanese and Korean. European and American tourists who want to have a deeper understanding of the history of coastal defense can only rely on translation software to “guess the meaning”.
Once, a tourist from the United States, Jack, was taking pictures of a battery at a coastal defense site. He used a translation software to ask, “What enemy is this used to resist?” The software translated it as “What is this used to oppose?” The staff looked at it for a long time before they understood. After the explanation, Jack said helplessly, “If there were an English explanation, I could know more stories.” This situation of “wanting to understand but not being able to” greatly reduces the experience of overseas tourists.
3. Slow content updates and seasonal activities “fail to spread”
The distinctive feature of Ningbo Bay Resort lies in its “four seasons with themes” : in spring, there is the “Tidal Flat Birdwatching Festival”; in summer, the “Water Sports Carnival”; in autumn, the “Seafood Food Week”; and in winter, the “Coastal Hot Spring Season”. However, traditional guided Tours mainly rely on paper brochures and manual explanations. Once the brochures are printed, they cannot be modified. The introduction of seasonal activities can only be done orally by the staff. If tourists do not ask actively, they have no idea about these special projects at all.
In the summer of 2024, the resort held a “Water Sports Carnival” and launched “Sailing Experience Discounts” and “parent-child kayaking competitions”. However, many tourists didn’t hear about it until they left. They only learned about it by seeing other tourists’ shares on social media. The operation team was both regretful and helpless: “The paper manual was printed a month in advance, but the activity information couldn’t be added in.” Human explanations are repeated too many times every day, so it’s inevitable to miss something. It would be great if there were a way of explanation that could be updated at any time.
4. Equipment management is troublesome, and traditional guided Tours are “costly and inefficient”
To relieve the pressure on tour guides, the resort once attempted to introduce self-service tour guides, but there were a bunch of problems: the equipment needed to be charged and disinfected, and 50 machines required two dedicated staff members to manage them. After tourists rented them, they were prone to losing them. Within half a year, eight were lost, resulting in considerable losses. When it rains, the equipment is also prone to moisture damage and malfunction, and the maintenance cost remains high. Later, more paper guidebooks were printed, but each time the content was updated, they had to be reprinted. In a year, the cost of the guidebooks alone was over 100,000 yuan, and it was not environmentally friendly either.
During that period, we were both afraid that tourists wouldn’t be able to find the guides and that the equipment might break down and the manuals would be wasted. We were constantly “plugging in the gaps” every day. Sister Li, the operation supervisor, said, “It wasn’t until I got in touch with Yingmi’s QR code interpretation system that I realized ‘tour guiding can be so simple.'” “
Ii. Yingmi QR Code Explanation System: Addressing pain Points to make Guided Tours Easier
After learning about the needs of Ningbo Bay, Yingmi did not simply recommend a universal solution. Instead, she sent a team to conduct on-site research: recording the scenic spots with a high concentration of tourists, statistics on multilingual demands, and sorting out the update frequency of seasonal activities. Eventually, she customized a complete solution of “QR code + multi-form content + remote management” for the resort area – each design precisely hit the previous pain points.
1.Scan the code to listen. “Hear wherever you go” at over 50 scenic spots
Yingmi has designed exclusive QR code signs for over 50 core locations in Ningbo Bay Resort. These signs are made of acrylic and sealed at the front and back, with adhesive pasted beside landscape signs and equipment. They are waterproof, moisture-proof, and not afraid of wind and sun exposure. Tourists do not need to download any apps. They just need to open the “Scan” function of wechat or Alipay, aim at the QR code, and they can immediately obtain the corresponding scenic spot’s explanation content. There is no need to wait for a tour guide or rent equipment at all.
For instance, when you walk to the battery of the “Coastal Defense Site”, after scanning the code, a prompt asking “Do you want to listen to the explanation?” will pop up. Click on it and you will hear: “What you are seeing now is a Qing Dynasty coastal defense battery, built in 1885, mainly used to resist Japanese pirates and foreign invaders at sea. The gun body is made of cast iron and has a range of up to 3 kilometers…” ; At the sailing dock of the “Water Sports Center”, by scanning the code, you can hear “Basic Steps for Sailing”, “Experience Periods Suitable for Beginners”, and also see graphic and textual explanations of safety precautions.
The scanning distance of the QR code has also been optimized. Mobile phones can easily scan it within a range of 0.5 to 1 meter, and it can also be operated by the elderly and children. Manager Chen said, “Nowadays, when tourists visit the coastal defense sites, they no longer need to ask the staff. They can just scan the code and listen. At the peak, more than 300 people used it in a day, and the pressure on the staff has been greatly reduced.”
2. Remote content updates, seasonal activities “spread quickly”
The “Remote Content update” function of Yingmi QR Code Explanation System has completely solved the problem of “difficult content update” in Ningbo Bay. The operation team of the resort area can add or modify the explanation content at any time by logging into the background, without having to create a new QR code or print a manual. During the “Tidal Flat Birdwatching Festival” in spring, add “Best Time for Birdwatching” and “Common Bird Species”. During the “Water Sports Carnival” in summer, update the “event schedule” and “Discount information”. During the “Seafood Food Week” in autumn, “Recommended Dishes” and “Dining Locations” are added. Tourists can scan the code to view the latest information immediately.
In the summer of 2025, the resort promoted the “Water Sports Carnival” through this system. Within three days of the event information going online, more than 200 tourists had scanned the code to learn about it and signed up, which was double the number of registrants last year when it was promoted manually. Sister Li said, “Previously, it took half a month to update the content. Now, it can be changed on the same day, and we have saved over 100,000 yuan in manual costs. It’s both efficient and environmentally friendly.”
3. Zero equipment management, scenic spots “save effort and reduce costs
For Ningbo Bay, the most worry-free feature of the Yingmi QR code interpretation system is “no need to worry about equipment” – tourists can scan the code with their own mobile phones, without renting or returning it. The scenic area doesn’t need to arrange for people to charge, disinfect or maintain the equipment, nor does it have to worry about equipment loss. The production cost of QR code labels is low, only a few yuan each, and they can be used for a long time. Compared with traditional tour guides and paper manuals, they save a lot of money.
The system’s backend can also calculate “which scenic spots have more people scanning codes”, “which language do tourists prefer”, and “average listening duration”, providing data support for the resort area to optimize services. For instance, the number of people scanning the code for “Coastal Defense Sites” shown in the background was the largest, and the proportion of English listening was 30%. Therefore, the resort area specifically added detailed English explanations of the history of coastal defense. It was found that the listening duration of “Tidal Flats and Wetlands” was the shortest, so the interesting content of “Migratory Bird Routes” was added to attract tourists to stay longer.
“Previously, managing the tour guide equipment required a lot of effort, but now it’s basically unnecessary. Moreover, services can be optimized based on data, which was something we never dared to imagine before.” ” Sister Li said with a smile.
Iii. Implementation Achievements: The “New Changes” in Ningbo Bay, a win-win situation for Both Tourists and Scenic Spots
The Yingmi QR code explanation system has been implemented in Ningbo Bay for half a year. The changes it has brought are not just about “scanning the code to listen to explanations” – tourists’ experiences have become more in-depth, the operation of the scenic area has become more efficient, and even the brand influence of the resort has quietly increased.
1. Upgraded Tourist Experience: From “Visiting the Scenery” to “Understanding the Scenery”
According to the statistics of the scenic area, after the implementation of the QR code interpretation system, the average stay time of tourists has increased from 2.5 hours to 4 hours, and the proportion of tourists who have “in-depth Tours” (covering more than 8 scenic spots) has risen from 40% to 75%. The complaint rate of tourists has dropped from 15% to 2%, and the content of the complaints has changed from “can’t find explanations” to “hope for more explanations of scenic spots”.
A tourist from Shanghai came to play with his child and gave feedback: “The child listened to the QR code of ‘Tidal Flat Wetland’ twice and asked me, ‘Why do birds like to come here?’ In the past, when visiting in a tour group, he would never ask such questions on his own initiative.” Now scan the code to listen to the explanation. Not only do you have a great time, but you also learn knowledge. It’s really worth it.
2. Expansion of brand influence: Becoming a benchmark for “smart cultural tourism”
The QR code interpretation system of Ningbo Bay Resort has also become a “learning model” for the surrounding coastal scenic spots – resorts in Zhoushan, Taizhou and other places have come to visit one after another, hoping to draw on this “low-cost and highly flexible” smart tour guide solution. In October 2025, Ningbo Bay was also selected as a “Zhejiang Province Smart Cultural Tourism Demonstration Project” thanks to this system, attracting more media coverage and taking its brand awareness to a new level.
Conclusion: Scan the code to see the scenery, and listen to the sea with stories
Nowadays, when visiting Ningbo Bay Resort, one often sees such a scene: tourists hold up their mobile phones, simply scan the QR code, and clear explanations ring in their ears. Overseas tourists were taking photos at the coastal defense site while listening to the English explanations. Parent-child families gathered around the QR code of “Tidal Flat Wetland”, listening to the stories of migratory birds together. The sea breeze caresses, and the sound of explanations interweaves with the sound of the waves, creating the most distinctive “sound landscape” in Ningbo Bay.
Yingmi has always believed that a good tour guide system should not be a “burden”, but a “bridge” – connecting tourists with the scenery, and connecting culture with experience. In the future, Yingmi will continue to optimize the QR code explanation system, such as adding AR interactive functions, so that tourists can scan the code to see the “virtual scene of the coastal defense battery’s battles back then”. Expand more languages to enable tourists from all over the world to understand the stories of the scenery.
Whether it’s the coastal scenery of Ningbo Bay or historical exhibition halls overseas, Yingmi wants to use a small QR code to make every scenic spot worth telling a story clearly heard and remembered, and to make every trip warmer because of technology.