Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - As she owns one of the most beautiful villas in Tam DaoGolf Course, Nguyen Thanh Hang had never spent a penny promoting herSapphire Villa but was still fully booked most of the time.

Things changed when COVID-19hit though, as Hang and  owners of the other 30 homestays and villas nearthe golf course in Vinh Phuc province did not get bookings.

Instead of standing pat, Hang and others spent on photographs, videos andsocial network marketing to change the situation.

“It is much easier to have customers when I post beautiful pictures of myresorts on social networks,” Hang said.

The area around Tam Dao Golf Course is not only beautiful with pine forest,mountains and cool weather, but it is also less than an hour from Hanoi, saidHang, adding: “Not all people know about our place yet. All they knowabout is the difficult travel to the mountain of Tam Dao, yet they know aboutthe amazing place in the foot of the mountain near the golf course.”

Hang alone couldn't spread theword about the area and her resort, but her pictures could.

She spent more than 30 million VND (1,300USD) on a set of pictures, postedthem on her Facebook and received bookings.

“I can't ignore the advertisement costs anymore. If I don’t pay now, otherswill take all my customers with their spending on pictures and videos.”

Nguyen Anh Duc, who took the photos for Hang's resort, said that he hadmore orders for his service since last month.

"Many homestay owners used to take the pictures themselves but now thecompetition is fiercer, they ask for professional photos and videos," hesaid.

Duc also offers media services that help them post the photos onFacebook and Instagram to boost their bookings.

"A good photographer knows the best angle with beautiful light to lurecustomers. Now many just click on pictures to decide their booking," Ducadded.

Tran Viet Dung, head of the Media Department of the Vietnam TourismAssociation, said: “Marketing often plays a big role in boosting tourism andhospitality. Big corporations understand it and have done it for a long time.”

Now, it's time for small businesses to do the same things as the industrysuffers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and global lockdowns.

Dung said platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok were great toolsfor marketing.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnamhas nearly 60 million Facebook accounts with huge amounts of traffic and usagehours.

Dung said Vietnam is controlling the pandemic well but it has also lostmillions of visitors due to the pandemic, adding: "A well-organisedmarketing programme at this time has a great impact to wake up the tourismindustry after a few gloomy months."

He said of the tourism industry's total yearly revenue of 26 billion USD, accommodationaccounted for 28 percent or more than 8 billion USD. In 2019, it was 10billion USD out of 35 billion USD.

As accommodation accountedfor the largest proportion of the tourism industry's revenue, Dung said:"It is now time to promote tourism products on social mediachannels." /.