Cua Lo Press Awards 2022 - joy after the silence

In 2020 and 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, deeply affecting the entire economic and social sectors. In that spiral, Cua Lo tourism was also seriously affected, works about Cua Lo tourism were limited. That was also the time when the press award for writing about Cua Lo tourism temporarily subsided.

In 2022, Cua Lo tourism will be vibrant again, with fresh colors. Cua Lo will have a spacious and attractive appearance, not only as a tourist landscape, but also with many new policies and creative ways of the town to elevate sea tourism; thereby creating a new and strange space, a valuable material for reporters, collaborators, professional and amateur photographers to freely create, create quality works, beautiful pictures, creating the premise for a successful season of Cua Lo Tourism Journalism Awards.

Sea daisies in Cua Lo. Photo courtesy: Duc Anh

The Cua Lo Tourism Journalism Competition was launched in early 2020 and in 2021, due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, the award was postponed. To ensure the rights of reporters and collaborators, the Organizing Committee agreed to extend the competition and the works selected for the award must be published in 3 years (from 2020 to the end of September 2022).

It can be said that the 15th season, 2022, the Cua Lo Tourism Journalism Award is eagerly awaited by journalists, because of many new and creative things in the town's tourism approach. Immediately after its launch, press agencies, especially Nghe An Newspaper, Nghe An Radio and Television Station, Song Lam Magazine, Cua Lo Town Culture, Information and Communication Center, and resident press agencies in the province have published a lot of information, articles, video clips, and devoted a lot of time, special pages, and columns to promote Cua Lo tourism in preparation for the new tourist season after 2 years of stagnation.

Site clearance work in Cua Lo Town. Photo: Duc Anh

Responding to the competition, the 2022 season had hundreds of press works published in local newspapers, central newspapers, industry newspapers, with many rich genres. 156 works participated in the competition in 3 years, of which, in 2022, there were more than 100 works.

Based on the contest rules, 134 works were entered for judging, including: 35 works of visual newspaper, 2 works of spoken newspaper, 28 works of printed newspaper, 26 works of electronic newspaper, 43 works of press photos. Each work is a vivid color of the land and people of Cua Lo, especially the unique features, fresh slices, positive changes in the way of doing tourism of the town.

Lantern festival in Cua Lo town. Photo: Duc Anh

To have a successful 2022 season, first of all, it is thanks to innovation in leadership, socio-economic management and the way to organize and open the 2022 tourist season of the town.

The first new point is that the Cua Lo tourist season this year opened 3 weeks earlier than previous years. The festival program lasts throughout the tourist season, with attractive themes, ranging from traditional to modern, taking place for the first time in Cua Lo such as the Lantern Festival, Hot Air Balloon Festival, Street Music, competitions..., are attractive topics, meeting the needs of tourists.

Thanks to the town's new ways of doing things, in the 2022 season, there are many works with new and attractive topics, vivid expressions, not clichés, general introductions of Cua Lo landscape as before, but journalists have delved into each major issue that the town is implementing.

These are a series of articles reflecting the town's land clearance on the east side of Binh Minh Street - a major, unprecedented issue for the town. These are the beautification of the landscape, the development of sea daisy planting to create vibrant colors for the coastal tourism space...

It can be said that these are valuable materials for journalists to reflect and create quality works for the 2022 season. Typically, the work "Cua Lo is safe - friendly - hospitable"(Nghe An Television), or "Cua Lo, come to love and remember" (Nghe An Newspaper), as if inviting and holding tourists from all over to Cua Lo beach; "Clearing kiosks on the park east of Binh Minh Street"(Nghe An Newspaper), affirming the way of doing, direction, determination and resoluteness in leadership and direction of the town's leaders in the face of a big and difficult problem, hoping step by step for Cua Lo to be planned to be spacious and modern in the future; or "A deep Cua Lo" (Song Lam Magazine) contains thoughts about the desire for innovation of a fishing village in the past to have a luxurious and modern Cua Lo today; a new way to "Sea daisy conservation..." (Cultural, Information and Communication Center of Cua Lo Town), as if reminding of a flower on the sand of Cua Lo beach that seemed to have been forgotten, this year's tourist season suddenly bloomed...

In particular, to create a modern tourism style, suitable to the tastes, for the first time Cua Lo town organized a hot air balloon festival, making Cua Lo shine; a sparkling lantern festival to remind the origin, to pay tribute to the heroic martyrs was also organized by the town for the first time, widely and effectively promoted by the press agencies. In addition, check-in points, craft village tourism,... were promoted by the press agencies, creating a good effect on the public.

The new points and new ways of doing things of Cua Lo town in 2022 are important events, along with the passion of reporters, collaborators, and the responsibility of press agencies, which have contributed to the success of the season. The new themed works were highly appreciated by the Jury. Through 2 preliminary and final rounds, with a sense of responsibility, impartiality, and objectivity, the Jury selected 41 excellent works to award prizes, including: A Prize: 3 works, B Prize: 8 works, C Prize: 13 works; and 17 works won the Encouragement Prize.

The 2022 season has come to an end, success does not stop at the categories of the award, but more importantly, through propaganda work, the "Cua Lo Tourism Press Award 2022" has contributed to spreading and promoting a beautiful and friendly Cua Lo, a Cua Lo that is changing every day to tourists from all over the world.