To develop craft village tourism in Cua Lo town

Potential for developing craft villages in Cua Lo town

Cua Lo is one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, an advantage for developing various types of tourism services, including craft village tourism. Tourists come to Cua Lo not only for the clean and beautiful beach but also for the fresh seafood here, reasonable prices and specialties from traditional craft villages, which have contributed to making Cua Lo attract more and more tourists...

Up to now, Cua Lo Town has 4 craft villages, of which 3 have been granted Collective Trademark Certificates by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Office:Fish sauce processing villageHai Giang 1 in Nghi Hai ward; Seafood preservation and processing village in Nghi Tan ward; Seafood catching and processing village in Nghi Thuy ward. In 2017, the Cua Lo Grilled Mackerel Association was established and was also granted a certificate by the Intellectual Property Office to certify this specialty as a collective brand of Cua Lo. Visitors to Cua Lo not only buy grilled mackerel to take home, but customers from all over the country only need to call and the shops will send the fish to their hands within a few days.

Visitors to Nghi Hai fish sauce village. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In Nghi Hai ward, in addition to Hai Giang 1 fish sauce village, there are also 3 fish sauce processing companies and dozens of establishments processing grilled mackerel, squid rolls, and shrimp.

In particular, the ward has 3 products recognized as meeting OCOP standards, including 1 product with 4 stars and 2 products with 3 stars, including: Tan Hoi fish sauce; Hai Giang 1 fish sauce; Ngu Hai fish sauce. It is expected that in the period of 2021-2025, 5 more OCOP-starred products will be built and the stars will be upgraded for the products that have met the standards.

Most of the craft villages in Cua Lo are associated withseafood processingwith origins dating back hundreds of years, originating from fishing households in coastal fishing villages.

Along with the development of the town's tourism industry, the craft village is growing stronger, gradually building and shaping its brand. Many households in Nghi Thuy craft village have researched, learned, and processed many delicious and beautiful products such as sesame-fried anchovies, crispy fried goby fish, tamarind-braised squid, crispy fried shredded squid... Many products have been canned, registered for labels, and granted food safety licenses...

Cua Hoi fishing port seen from above. Photo: Trung Ha

Limitations of Cua Lo craft village tourism

The development of Cua Lo craft village tourism is still not commensurate with its potential. Craft villages are still spontaneous, only stopping at selling existing products to tourists, some households in the craft villages have not yet labeled their products, not really paying attention to the ultimate needs of tourists, regional marketing still lacks creativity...

The production of goodstourism in Cua Lohas not been exploited effectively. The tourism style is unprofessional, the souvenir products are mainly seashells, snail shells, pearls, corals... imported from other places, so they do not show the unique characteristics of Cua Lo in particular, Nghe An in general.

Nghi Thuy fishing port. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Most craft villages have not been exposed to and developed in a way that combines with tourism. Tourism activities in craft villages have not been invested in or exploited in a way that encourages community participation in tourism, awareness of tourism is still limited, and only focuses on production and commercial activities.

Cua Lo town has also invested in building a night market and food market in block 8, Nghi Thuy ward, including 74 stalls, on an area of ​​5,000 m². The purpose of operating at night is to attract tourists, but after a period of operation, the market now only takes place for a few hours each morning for a few residents in the area.

Nghi Thuy fish market is bustling with buyers and sellers. Photo: Hai Vuong

Solutions for developing craft villages associated with sea tourism

To develop craft villages associated with tourism in Cua Lo, it is necessary to first improve the leadership and direction capacity of local authorities in managing and organizing tourism activities; establish relationships with tourism businesses, hotels, resorts, and restaurants to find outlets for products; understand the needs of tourists when participating in craft village tourism; create favorable conditions in terms of mechanisms, funding, and facilities for building pilot models in suitable craft villages.

In the construction planning and organization of ward and commune space, it is necessary to integrate the space of tourist craft villages.

Local authorities need to make efforts to raise awareness and motivate people about initial capital so that they have enough capacity to become subjects in the value chain to create products.

Enterprises investing in high-speed trains open many sightseeing services for tourists every time they return to Cua Lo beach. Photo: Lam Tung

In order for traditional occupations and craft villages to develop, there must be supportive policies in registering product brands. Craft villages need to improve and innovate designs, create rich, diverse and quality products. At the same time, promote brands to find and expand markets. Select some potential and advantageous craft villages to promote, advertise and introduce - becoming attractive destinations for tours.

Travel agencies need to pay attention to connecting tourism products of traditional craft villages with farmtrip tours, tours for visitors to experience activities in craft villages and shop for products...

Hopefully in the near future, the type of craft village tourism associated with sea tourism in Cua Lo will be invested more and more effectively, becoming an attractive destination for tourists with the image of nature and the friendly, hospitable people of Cua Lo, rich in cultural traditions./.

Dr. Dinh Van Toi