Cua Lo determines to become a civilized and modern coastal urban area by 2020. The town is planning to become an important economic hub of Nghe An province.

It has been upgrading infrastructure and adding hotel rooms to improve the quality of tourism services and become a beach tourism destination by 2015.

Tourist arrivals to Cua Lo are estimated at nearly 2.3 million in 2014, including more than 1.4 million who stayed overnight and over 550,000 foreigners.

Last year, Cua Lo received 2.12 million tourist arrivals, a 9.6% increase over 2012, and earned VND1.46 trillion of revenue, almost a third higher than in 2012.