Towards the coastal tourist city
After 4 years of implementing Resolution 05/NQ-TU of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, especially after more than 1 year of being recognized as a Type III Urban Area, Cua Lo has made strong progress in planning, investing in building infrastructure to develop tourism services, expanding urban space... towards a coastal tourism city in 2015. On the occasion of the 2011 Cua Lo Sea Tourism Festival, Nghe An Newspaper interviewed comrade Le Minh Thong, Deputy Secretary of the Town Party Committee - Chairman of the Town People's Committee.
PV:Could you please tell us the main results after 4 years of implementing Resolution 05/NQ-TU of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on building and developing Cua Lo town into a coastal tourism city?
Comrade Le Minh Thong:To effectively implement the Resolution, the Party Committee of the Town issued Resolution No. 05/NQ-Thu on the action program to implement the Resolution. The most outstanding result is the good implementation of planning and planning management. A series of plans have been completed such as: general planning for construction of Cua Lo Town and surrounding areas; master plan for socio-economic development of Cua Lo Town to 2020; detailed planning of 7/7 wards. Completed investment calling planning for tourism development projects: high-end tourist areas east of Binh Minh Street; resort area south of Nghi Hai ward; hotel, restaurant, villa and housing area with tourism services in Nghi Huong ward and Nghi Hoa ward. Attracted investment in projects: Van Xuan Private University 50 ha, 18-hole golf course complex 123 ha, 5-star hotel area of Hanoi Tourism Joint Stock Company, Trang An confectionery factory, Liquefied petroleum gas filling factory, expansion of Nghe An College of Tourism and Trade...
Cua Lo Beach - An attractive tourist destination. Photo: Sy Minh
The economic structure has shifted strongly, in the right direction: the service economy increased from 56.5% to 62%, the agriculture-forestry-fishery economy decreased from 10.4% to 5.5%. Resources have been mobilized to invest in infrastructure construction. The total social investment from 261 billion in 2006 to 2009 reached 1,000 billion VND and in 2010 reached over 1,500 billion VND. There have been 34 projects from internally mobilized resources with a total investment of over 56.8 billion VND. Many tourism and cultural infrastructure works have been built and put into operation, creating a new face and appearance for the Town such as: Inner-city road system, park system, lawns, trees, Binh Minh Square, Lan Chau island wharf, Ngu island wharf, sports training and competition house, lighting system, decorative electricity for central roads... Some key projects are being focused on implementation such as: Phase 1 wastewater project has completed 90% of the volume with a total investment of 150 billion VND, currently continuing to implement phase 2 with a total investment of nearly 500 billion VND from ODA capital of the Kingdom of Belgium; Anti-erosion embankment project combined with people's fishing wharf and resettlement area Nghi Tan, Nghi Hai with a value of 173 billion VND... Infrastructure serving the tourism service economy has been strongly developed, types of tourism services and tourism products are increasingly diverse and rich. There has been much progress in social culture, people's lives have been improved. Social order and security in the area are ensured.
PV:Dear comrade, to prepare the best conditions for the 2011 tourist season, what activities has Cua Lo implemented?
Comrade Le Minh Thong:At the end of the 2010 tourist season, Cua Lo welcomed 1.85 million visitors, an increase of 12.1% compared to 2009, of which for the first time the number of overnight visitors reached over 1 million (1.17 million visitors). Revenue from tourism services, hotels and motels reached 725 billion VND, reaching 117% of the plan, an increase of 31% compared to the same period. This year, Cua Lo will strive to welcome over 2 million visitors, of which overnight visitors reached 1.3 million, an increase of 11% compared to 2010. Since the fourth quarter of 2010, the Town People's Committee has focused on directing and upgrading infrastructure and accommodation facilities to serve tourism development. Currently, there are 226 accommodation establishments in the area, with 5,826 rooms and 12,448 beds, capable of receiving 16,000 guests/day, many establishments can serve well national and international conferences and seminars such as Saigon-Kim Lien Hotel, Green Hotel, Golf Course Complex.... In addition, there are 50 accommodation establishments preparing documents to submit to competent authorities for ranking from 1-3 stars to maximize advantages, potentials, and improve service quality to meet the needs of tourists. Tourism and tourist transportation activities have also been strengthened, continuing to improve the quality of familiar tours and routes such as Cua Lo - Ngu Island, Cua Lo - Vinh - Kim Lien Relic Site, Cua Lo - Bai Lu... connecting domestic and foreign provinces to open and maintain routes: Cua Lo - Cau Treo Border Gate - Lac Xao, Cua Lo - Cui Temple - Thien Cam... Diversifying tourism products, continuing to promote products that have attracted tourists' attention such as: Cua Lo and Cua Hoi fish sauce, dried seafood, fresh seafood, souvenirs made from snail shells... At the same time, implementing well the state management of tourism, ensuring environmental sanitation and promoting the image of Cua Lo on the media, organizing many grand cultural and sports events to respond to the National Tourism Year "Sea and island tourism paradise".
PV:The goal set by the 4th Town Party Congress is that by 2015, Cua Lo will become a green, clean, rich, civilized coastal tourist city... Up to this point, how has Cua Lo implemented it, comrade?
Comrade Le Minh Thong:Immediately after the 4th Town Party Congress, Cua Lo has developed an action program to implement 10 key programs with breakthroughs in socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security and building a comprehensive strong political system of the Town and its grassroots. Accordingly, Cua Lo is coordinating with sectors to develop an action program and establish a Project to Upgrade Cua Lo urban area to become a coastal tourist city. Organize the implementation of the Project to expand administrative boundaries and urban space; implement the development of programs and projects to develop the overall economic infrastructure of the urban tourism area. Focus on investing in building infrastructure to serve tourism, especially the inner-city road system, handing over the site to implement the construction of Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard, speeding up the progress of urban beautification, especially the area of the beach park east of Binh Minh Street, implementing the installation of an electrical system to decorate the central area of the Town, installing house numbers and street names. Expanding tourism space to the South (Nghi Huong, Nghi Hoa, Nghi Hai). Planning to attract 3 large projects: 17-hectare tourist area of Nghe An Petroleum Group Development Investment Company; 20-hectare tourist area of Minh Anh Trade Service Investment Group in Nghi Hoa ward; Lan Chau Island tourist area of Nghe An Petroleum Trading Company in Nghi Thuy ward.
PV:Thank you comrade!
Huu Nghia -perform