A representative of a hostel in Yerevan that claims to be one of the first to start promoting its services through popular social networks online says that having a fan page on Facebook has helped advance the business at home and abroad and make Armenia more recognizable as a travel destination to the foreign market.

(Since the trend began to develop in the country about two years ago, many businesses in Armenia have been using these networks to reach out to customers).

A fan page on Facebook, a popular social networking website, usually appears on the right side of the page and offers to become a ‘fan’ of a given service, company, or other stuff.

Gevorg Babayan, a hostel and tour manager at Envoy Hostel (www.envoyhostel.am or http://envoyhostel.com), operating in Yerevan since 2005, recently returned from Ireland where on January 24-26 he took part in the World Hostel Conference. He says that a majority of participants of the forum, which had brought together about 400 delegates from around the world, knew about Envoy Hostel from Facebook. (Babayan says that through its delegate in Dublin, Envoy Hostel also promoted Armenia as a travel destination and a tourism market.)

Babayan opened the Facebook fan page in November 2008. Today it has around 1,000 “fans”.

“Besides, the hostel receives many orders from Facebook, so I think that promotion through social networks has yielded its results,” says Babayan. (Envoy also has its page on Twitter and MySpace).

Babayan says that one of the topics discussed at the conference in Dublin was promotion of hostels through social networks, which testifies to the increasing role of this trend in company promotion.

Envoy stands out among few companies that offer hostel accommodation in Yerevan. Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation for those looking for cheaper options – and cater especially to backpackers. Babayan says sometimes even those who can afford expensive hotel accommodation still go for backpacking as a travel style and prefer staying in hostels.