From the opening ceremony to the message of transformation
On the evening of April 25th, at Binh Minh Square, Cua Lo officially enters the 2026 tourist season with a large-scale opening night, combining art, culture and modern performance technology. The highlight of "Tinh hoa Lam thuy" is not only the story of the Lam River - the crystallization of cultural sediments of Nghe region - but also a message about a new journey of local tourism: development based on identity.
Unlike many previous years that only stopped at the opening ceremony of the sea season, this year's Festival is designed to last throughout the year with 26 activities. This clearly shows a change in thinking: from "making seasonal tourism" to "organizing year-round experiences".
For many years, Cua Lo tourism has mainly been associated with summer, focusing on swimming and short-term resorts. This model causes the number of visitors to increase sharply over time, but also creates a large gap in the autumn-winter season.
In 2026, Nghe An will begin to reshape the structure of Cua Lo tourism products in the direction of diversifying experiences.
Summer is still the peak season with sea sports activities, festivals, fairs, music events... to attract a large number of visitors. However, the new point lies in expanding to autumn and winter with cultural and entertainment experiences.
Sea carnivals, food festivals, and Ví - Giặm folk song performances help extend the series of activities to autumn. Meanwhile, programs such as "Cửa Lò without winter", Halloween festivals, Christmas or local cultural experiences open up a completely new direction of exploitation for the low season.
This shift shows that Cua Lo is no longer just a "come and go" destination, but is aiming for a multi-layered experience space where visitors can return many times a year for different reasons.
Taking culture as the axis, improving quality as the foundation
One of the notable points of the new strategy is making the local cultural element a development axis. From "Tinh hoa Lam thuy" in the opening night to Vi - Giam folk songs programs, traditional festivals... all are aimed at telling a unique story of Nghe land.
This is in line with the current tourism trend, when tourists not only look for beautiful scenery but also want to experience cultural depth. With the advantage of being a land rich in traditions, Cua Lo has the opportunity to position itself with different values, instead of just competing with the sea and accommodation services.
In parallel with that, infrastructure upgrades, urban embellishment, tightening service management, price listing, environmental protection... are also being implemented synchronously. This is a necessary condition to shift from "quantitative tourism" to "quality tourism".
Future expectations: escaping the "cultivation curse
Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nghe An province Tran Thi My Hanh said that organizing the Cua Lo Tourism Festival 2026 in a four-season direction not only has the meaning of stimulating demand in the short term but is also a test for a long-term development model.
If it maintains a regular chain of operations, builds typical products for each season and maintains stable service quality, Cua Lo can completely escape the situation of dependence on summer - a problem that many coastal cities are facing.
In the context of increasingly fierce tourism competition, this direction is considered necessary to improve competitiveness, attract long-term visitor flows, return visitors and gradually approach the international market.
From a familiar destination for domestic tourism, Cua Lo is facing the opportunity to reposition. And if "Lam Thuy" is the soul - the place to preserve identity, then the four-season tourism strategy is the path for this coastal area to go further on the tourism map.
