Cua Lo Town: Affirming the potential of the sea
(Baonghean.vn) - In the tourism picture of Nghe An, Cua Lo shines with a charming color on the entire Vietnamese coastline. Indeed, with deep blue sea water, smooth, gentle sand beaches, friendly and hospitable people, Cua Lo is proud to be solemnly named on the map of Vietnam's sea tourism. This young town is full of energy to assert its position, worthy of the great expectations of the locality and the province.
Reaching the level of urban tourism
For a long time, Cua Lo beach tourism brand has always been the top choice of destination for tourists from near and far. The town area is only nearly 28 km2, but this is considered one of the key growth points of Nghe An province. Resolution 26-NQ/TW in 2013 of the Politburo also clearly stated: Building Vinh city together with Cua Lo town to develop into economic growth poles and spearheads of growth of the province.
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| Cua Lo is known as the most beautiful beach in the Central region, an ideal destination for tourists from all over. Photo courtesy of PV |
Looking back on the past, Cua Lo town has really made great strides, making important contributions to the development of the province by effectively exploiting the strengths of the sea potential, especially in tourism. Visitors to Cua Lo can not only immerse themselves in the "blue sea, white sand, golden sunshine", but can also experience "a heritage site, a cultural and historical tourism site" when the area has up to 11 historical and cultural relics at the national and provincial levels; there are 3 islands: Ngu island, Mat island and Lan Chau island; in which, Ngu island and Lan Chau island are gradually being invested to exploit tourism effectively.
There are also bustling fishing village spaces on the wharf, on the boats with the lifestyle and work that are unique to the coastal region of Nghe An in the Central region. In a conversation with us, Secretary of the Cua Lo City Party Committee - Comrade Nguyen Thi Kim Chi confided that a tourism strength of the land at the foot of the waves is the people of Cua Lo. A history of formation with the process of migration, livelihood, and career based on the sea has formed the character of the coastal residents who "eat the waves, talk to the wind" but are also very honest and sincere.
All of these create a unique character for Cua Lo, which if aroused, promoted well, and exploited effectively, we believe that Cua Lo will go far and go steadily.
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| Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy inspects the Cua Hoi amusement park project. Photo: Thanh Duy |
That is the aspiration of the Party Committee and people of the coastal town; at the same time, it is also the concern, expectation, and entrustment of the provincial leaders to the Party Committee and people of the town in the new period. In recent working sessions with the town leaders, comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, expressed great expectations for Cua Lo - how to make the town reach the level worthy of being a developed tourist city, with high competitiveness compared to other coastal cities in the North.
To be worthy of being a developed tourist city, the town must maximize its strengths from the sea, cling to the sea and get rich from the sea.
First of all, tourism development is through continuing to build a good tourism culture; tourism products must be diversified; in addition, together with Vinh City, it must become a center connecting tourist routes of Nghe An. Secondly, the town needs to continue working with the province to complete infrastructure and logistics for seaports and logistics services; stick to the sea, get rich from the sea through exploiting and processing marine products. The Provincial Party Secretary also requested the town to strengthen the promotion of land resources; focus on the construction and implementation of planning to ensure long-term, comprehensive and transparent nature; avoid haste, and harmoniously combine it with the protection of aquatic resources and the marine environment.
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| Early morning sea. Photo: Canh Hung |
Create changes, breakthroughs
In preparation for the 6th Congress of the Party Committee of Cua Lo Town, term 2020 - 2025, the Standing Committee, the Standing Committee of the Town Party Committee, the Executive Committee of the Town Party Committee have been extremely concerned in the process of drafting documents, especially the Political Report - the central document of the congress, which has focused on discussion, analysis, evaluation; collecting opinions from experts, people... to determine the unique and distinctive strengths, in order to have a reasonable approach and propose solutions for implementation.
Cua Lo has determined that it must first and foremost follow the direction of a tourist city, in which the main focus is still on coastal tourism. However, the approach and way of doing things will have to be different to attract and retain tourists more effectively. Coming to Cua Lo is not only about swimming in the sea and enjoying seafood, but also about becoming a tourist center for relaxation and health care; a heritage, cultural and historical tourism area; becoming a place for entertainment and shopping; eco-tourism and craft villages.
The coastal town will also focus on completing and strictly managing the zoning plans of the wards; in particular, the coastal road passing through the area will be built as a "facade" opening up more opportunities for Cua Lo to exploit the potential of the sea. This will be a highlight of the town with the determination of the construction planning on both sides of the road to be truly standard.
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| Ngu Island Pagoda; Tourists take photos at Lan Chau Island; A corner of Cua Lo beach. Photo courtesy: Cong Kien - Duc Anh - Nguyen Book |
A new approach to developing Cua Lo tourism is to clear the kiosks on the east side of Binh Minh Street. Currently, the province has adjusted the planning tasks for the zoning plan here. The town has coordinated with the Department of Construction to prepare for a planning idea competition with the main outline in this area being to prioritize green parks, fresh water shower systems, internal traffic systems, serving tourists for sightseeing; decorative electricity, and will arrange a few parking spots. In particular, there will be 2 clusters of refreshment systems to serve tourists.
“We will try to finish the idea competition by the end of July 2020. The unit that is selected for the idea will make a plan to submit for approval as a basis for implementation from 2021. We focus on implementing the planning of the East side of Binh Minh Street to be beautiful and modern, considering it the highlight of the coastal tourist city of Cua Lo”.
In addition, the town plans to concentrate culinary areas in Nghi Hoa and Nghi Thu wards. In particular, the culinary area in Nghi Hoa ward has been approved for planning and is undergoing phase 1 investment; at the same time, it plans a number of culinary streets and night streets such as Mai Thuc Loan and Sao Nam. In some areas where motels and hotels are degraded, the town will also have solutions to encourage people to invest in upgrading to better meet the needs of tourists; at the same time, build model residential areas in the wards.
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| A corner of Cua Lo town. Photo: Mai Hoa |
Along with construction, management and planning implementation, Cua Lo focuses on attracting investment, especially strategic investors. Currently, Vingroup's projects that have been and are being implemented in the town are creating a strong boost for the town's tourism. In addition to the Vinpearl Cua Hoi Hotel, Entertainment and Resort Villa Complex that has been built, the Cua Hoi Entertainment and Cable Car Project to Ngu Island is being implemented, striving to be completed by April 30, 2021. This is truly a strong boost for Cua Lo's tourism products.
The exchange of leaders of Cua Lo town all said that a big priority in the coming time is to continue to change the mindset of doing tourism in a more professional way. Therefore, in addition to planning, planning management, attracting investment, and having more tourism products, the quality of human resources must be given top priority. Immediately after the 6th Congress of the Town Party Committee, the Town People's Committee will continue to work with restaurant and hotel owners to review and require the use of trained workers in accordance with regulations.
Cua Lo also focuses on solutions so that people do not abandon the sea but need to exploit, catch, and process seafood for tourism logistics. As in Nghi Thuy ward - a typical example of people clinging to the sea. The ward Party Secretary said: In the ward, there are currently 120 fishing boats, including 21 pairs of offshore fishing boats with a capacity of 400 - 1,100 CV, creating jobs for over 1,500 workers, accounting for 1/3 of the total number of workers in the ward.
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| Cua Lo town's economy maximizes its strength from the sea. Photo: PV - Contributor |
To increase the value of fishing products and create conditions for fishermen to stick with their jobs, the town has planned a concentrated freezing area in Nghi Tan and plans to continue building a brand for seafood processing products. The strength of the seaport also needs to be exploited more effectively through coordination and support for businesses to continue investing in port and logistics systems.
At the age of 26, the coastal town is full of great aspirations for change. We believe that with the new term opening, a new journey begins, Cua Lo will truly enrich itself from its marine potential and make even more worthy contributions to the development of the province.
