02
February
2017
|
18:30 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

TPA launches weekly Facebook photo contest

(February 2, 2017) People love capturing their airport experiences in images, whether it’s photos from the ramp, views from the air or pics of pre-flight cocktails and post-flight reunions with family. Gary Guy Lufthansa photo

Now Tampa International Airport is inviting guests and passengers to share those images for a chance to win a gift card and have their photos featured on TPA’s website and social media pages. TPA launched its new Facebook weekly photo contest last week, asking folks to send their favorite photos, and the response was overwhelming. The Airport’s social media team received more than a hundred photos just in the first week, with the images ranging from planes and sunsets to Friday Flight bands and celebrities spotted at TPA.

Someone even sent a photo of a fellow passenger flying with a “companion turkey” on her lap, headed to Tampa. Some have sent old photos as far back as the 1980s and many have shared interesting or touching stories behind their photos.

“I was just recently diagnosed with MS and have been using Southwest quite a bit to get back and forth for my diagnosis more testing for other issues,” wrote one entrant who sent a photo taken from the air as she was flying from TPA to Baltimore. “I recently got a voucher for one free round trip because of a program Southwest has with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Thank you for helping me get to my treatment safely each time. My first infusion is coming up and I hope it will help me.”

Anyone, including airport employees, can submit photos, as each week’s contest has a theme, helping balance the categories to keep those who have access to cool plane shots from winning every week. Future categories will include Best TPA Food Photo, Best Family Reunion Photo and Best Moment Inside the Plane.

The photos should be of TPA or related to flights to or from Tampa and can be submitted any time to TPA’s Facebook account via direct message. A category is announced every Monday and two finalists are chosen on Wednesday, allowing people to vote for, or “like,” their favorite photo until the winner is announced Friday.

Aviation enthusiast Gary Guy was the Photo of the Week winner for week one. Guy submitted a photo of the Lufthansa 747 (pictured) that had been diverted to TPA.