Recently, 12 graduate students majoring in tourism management from different countries from Sun Yat-sen University went to Dongao Island in Zhuhai to carry out scientific investigations, combined with internationally renowned island development cases and research directions, to discuss the island's international tourism image, and use self-media for practical promotion.
The 12 students came from 8 countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Yemen, Nepal, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia. In addition to academic research, 12 international students recorded the "Welcome to Dongao Island!" in seven languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, Nepali, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Burmese. The "Greeting Flash Mob" activity was carried out at the pier, actively inviting tourists to experience the gesture interaction of the warm island, presenting the "Island Blessing Card" carefully made by the Institute of Tourism Studies, and recording a group photo to provide materials for the dissemination of island cultural tourism.
With the basic work idea of "serving the locality, integrated development, pragmatic and efficient", Sun Yat-sen University has set up a special work class jointly led by the Zhuhai Campus Management Committee and the Wanshan Town Government, with the participation of various colleges and scientific research platforms, and proposed to build Dongao Island in Wanshan Town into a national tourist resort within 3-5 years, and launched the "Wanshan Action" to comprehensively enhance the soft power of the island and promote the high-quality development of the island. There will be 16 teams on the island in the next three months.
The international student team participating in the survey is one of the 16 teams, in addition to using their professional knowledge to study the international image and communication of Wanshan Islands, they also actively record the customs and humanistic ecology of the islands through the lens, and release the theme graphics and texts of "Dongao Island Must-See Guide" and "Wanshan Action" on WeChat Moments, Xiaohongshu, WeChat Channels and other platforms. At the same time, it will make efforts on Instagram and Facebook to show the charm of the island and become an "island storyteller" with the three-dimensional communication method of "strategy matrix + immersive content".
According to He Mang, chief planner of the Wanshan Action and vice dean of the School of Tourism of Sun Yat-sen University, the Wanshan Action includes a total of six sub-actions: enthusiasm, customs, ecology, health care, romance and sharing, and this time the theme of the event is mainly enthusiasm and sharing. Among them, the "Enthusiastic Action" focuses on cultivating the warm atmosphere of Dongao Island, and quickly narrows interpersonal relationships and feels the enthusiasm and warmth of the island through mutual greetings and multilingual services from all employees; The "Sharing Action" aims to enhance tourists' willingness to share and the quality of content dissemination, build a host-guest co-creation platform that integrates online and offline, guide tourists to record and disseminate island stories, and promote the "Wanshan Lifestyle" to break the circle through self-media such as videos, pictures, and online texts, realize the online and offline linkage of island life, and form a two-way empowerment of reality and virtuality.
