Tourists visiting the Great Wall of China can now enjoy a new service: drone-delivered takeout. Meituan, a Chinese food delivery and e-commerce platform, launched this initiative. Drone delivery is not new, and delivery drones operate in many countries worldwide, but the location is unique.
The Innovation: Drones in Challenging Terrain
The Great Wall of China, renowned for its historical significance and breathtaking views, presents significant logistical challenges. Stretching over 13,000 miles across rugged terrain, delivering goods to tourists scattered along its expanse is difficult. Meituan’s solution involves the deployment of drones that can navigate along different sections of the Wall. Operating at low altitudes, these drones are designed to quickly and efficiently deliver food and beverages directly to tourists on the wall, overcoming the limitations of traditional delivery methods.
This service addresses logistical difficulties and reduces operational costs. Meituan can maintain competitive pricing while ensuring timely delivery by minimising reliance on human couriers and vehicles. This innovation demonstrates the potential of drones to enhance service efficiency in complex environments.
Enhancing the Tourist Experience
For the millions of tourists who visit the Great Wall each year, the drone delivery service offers a new level of convenience. Visitors can now order meals and drinks via their smartphones, with drones delivering their orders directly to their location on the wall. This eliminates the need for tourists to leave their spots, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the experience of visiting the Great Wall without interruptions—if you don’t count drones delivering food as an interruption.
The service is especially valuable during peak tourist seasons when the Great Wall is most crowded. Traditional delivery methods often struggle to keep pace with the high demand during these times. In contrast, drones can efficiently manage increased orders, ensuring that tourists receive their items promptly, regardless of where they are on the wall.
Moreover, there is a growing preference for contactless services in the post-pandemic era. The drone delivery service meets this demand by providing a safer, more hygienic option for tourists increasingly conscious of health and safety measures.
The Future of Logistics and Tourism
Meituan’s drone delivery initiative at the Great Wall is another example of how drone technology can be leveraged for the last mile. The program at the Great Wall could serve as a model for similar services in other tourist-heavy or geographically challenging locations worldwide. Will we see drones flying through our cities, bringing us snacks and drinks? Probably not. But for rural or maybe suburban areas and hard-to-reach places, drones are an excellent solution for last-mile and last-minute delivery.
Header image: Meituan
