What to do to make sea daisies forever the symbol of Cua Lo beach tourism?

New tourism icon

For the past two years, every April, the coastal town of Cua Lo has become even more brilliant with flowers. At this time, the sea daisies here bloom yellow on the flower hills; the path to the beach; under the casuarina forest; in front of each agency, unit, school, hotel; on both sides of the main roads and in residential areas.

There are two types of sea daisies in Cua Lo. One type has bright yellow petals in a single color. The other type has two-tone petals with yellow outer edges and orange-red inside. Cua Lo sea daisies usually bloom from April to July every year. The flower stalks are long and jade green, with a layer of fine hairs from the branches to the flower calyx.

Each serrated petal is arranged alternately in a circle around the pistil. The flowers rise up like countless little suns waking up… Sea daisies are present in many localities in the Central coastal region, but it seems that sea daisies in Cua Lo are the most numerous and beautiful.

There have been many legends about the origin of the sea daisy in Cua Lo, such as the amorous king Bao Dai brought the flower variety from a French colony to plant in Cua Lo during a visit; or the French brought this flower variety to plant at the resort in Cua Lo more than 100 years ago... But the most likely is that the sea daisy seeds followed the birds and waves to Cua Lo, and then appeared and bloomed here.

For a long time, the sea daisy has been a typical symbol of the special qualities of the people of Cua Lo: Amidst the dry, hot, and barren sand, the sea daisy still patiently gathers every drop of life, so that every time summer approaches, the flower still blooms sparklingly and gracefully, beautifying life.

The scent of sea daisy is gentle, sweet and very distinctive. The scent of the flower has entered poems and songs.The scent of sea chrysanthemums blends into the Lan Chau poplar forest...” (Sea words); “There are soldiers who remember the color of sea daisies/The yellow color of the flowers reminds them of the sunset”(Afternoon on the Distant Island - Nguyen Trong Tao).

In the past 2 years, in order to promote local tourism development, Cua Lo town has chosen the sea daisy as a tourism symbol. Thereby creating an impression, inviting tourists to Cua Lo.

Mr. Hoang Thanh Son - Head of the Department of Culture - Information of Cua Lo town said: In 2022, the People's Committee of Cua Lo town issued and implemented the Project "Conservation, development and promotion of sea chrysanthemums" for the period 2022 - 2025 with the goal of building sea chrysanthemums into a typical flower symbol of Cua Lo tourism. Through the implementation of the project, it is aimed at contributing to preserving and developing this beautiful and precious flower species, at the same time, forming a new space so that when tourists come to Cua Lo beach tourism, they will have more places to visit, check-in, take photos, and record souvenirs.

The People's Committee of Cua Lo town also assigned the town's Agricultural Service Center to plant, care for and replicate at the following locations: The natural flower hill area south of Binh Minh Square with an area of ​​10,000m2². The 72m road area intersects with Binh Minh road with an area of ​​2,000m2². Sea Daisy Park area with an area of ​​500m²… Assign agencies, schools, hotels and motels to plant sea daisies in vacant land areas to create landscapes.

Besides, Cua Lo town has also strengthened communication and propaganda work about sea chrysanthemums - the symbol of Cua Lo tourism to a wide range of people in the province, friends near and far through coordination with information, media and press agencies.

In particular, the town has organized many events to spread the image of Cua Lo sea chrysanthemums to domestic and international tourists. In 2023 and 2024, Cua Lo town organized the Cua Lo Sea Chrysanthemum Ao Dai Festival, Cua Lo Elegant Young Women or the "Sea Chrysanthemum Check-in Point Decoration" Contest and in 2024 with the theme "Cua Lo Sea Chrysanthemums - Gifts of Nature".

Spread the sea daisy symbol

Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang (36 years old), a tourist from Hanoi who came to Cua Lo to travel, shared: “Never before, nowhere have I seen sea daisies blooming as brightly and beautifully as in Cua Lo. My family and friends and I have taken many beautiful photos with sea daisies. When we posted them on social networks, everyone praised them and asked for the address to find them…”.

However, in the last days of May, there is a very regrettable thing in Cua Lo town that the sea daisy season has quickly faded. Photographer Nguyen Xuan Nhuong (Cua Lo town), who has had many excellent photos of sea daisy, shared: This is the time when the tourist season begins, students are on summer vacation, and tourists will gather in large numbers in Cua Lo for vacation. I went around the town to "hunt" for more beautiful photos of sea daisy, but unfortunately, at this time, the flowers have faded and withered a lot. The flowers have faded and withered, it is unclear whether it is due to the weather or how they are cared for.

The authorities need to re-evaluate this issue, because in the past, when sea daisies still grew naturally in Cua Lo, they usually bloomed from April to July every year. In particular, June is the time when this flower species "blooms" the most, creating an impressive, outstanding scene on the sunny and windy Central coast.

Photographer Nguyen Xuan Nhuong added: Actually, we don't have to wait until 2022 for the sea daisy to be proposed as a tourism symbol in Cua Lo. In 2004-2005, Cua Lo town also had this idea and began to direct a number of agencies and units to plant it. However, later on, for many reasons, this was forgotten. By 2022, when the City Party Committee and People's Committee of Cua Lo town re-realized the idea...

Cua Lo people highly appreciate this and hope that this flower will take root for a long time and be planted more in Cua Lo, so that the image of Cua Lo sea chrysanthemum can spread more widely.

The longing and concern for the future of Cua Lo sea daisies is part of the overall longing of Cua Lo people to maintain and promote the Cua Lo tourism brand with a hundred years of history./.