This is National Travel and Tourism Week!! To celebrate and stimulate the travel industry a bit, we are going to host a Twitter Photo Hunt….yes, you know I LUV a good contest, and I know you LUV free travel! 

Each day this week, Southwest Airlines will send a “tweet” asking followers to submit a photo of a very specific travel or tourism-related picture. For example, one day we may request a photo from a national monument or a major sports stadium.  The next day we may ask for a photo of Mickey Mouse ears or a state line sign. 

For each picture we are hunting, we will offer up a sweet travel package (2 roundtrip plane tickets, 2 nights at an MGM Property in lovely Las Vegas) to the first person who can tweet us the specific travel-related picture.  That first person will receive the travel package (must be 21 to win).

Keep a close watch on our Twitter account this week.  Entering your pictures via Twitter will be easy by uploading them to www.twitpic.com .  Also, to qualify, our Tweeps must submit their own, original photos. Our in-house super sleuth, Lindsey Reynolds, will be keeping a close eye on Google Images/Flickr...so don’t steal someone else’s pictures!

To make sure we see your Twitpic, make sure to use the hashtag #SWAPhoto

Our Twitter account currently has approximately 27,000 followers and grows by about 200 new followers each day!  We’ve been recognized as a brand that “gets it” when it comes to how to use the medium to connect with our Customers and the general public. In Mashable.com’s (link) Top 40 list of Twitter brands, SWA is among the examples of Twitter success, recognized for our ability to use the tool to communicate with our audience and disseminate information.

OFFICIAL RULES

Southwest Photo Hunt

1. To Enter: No purchase or obligation necessary.  Contest runs from May 11, 2009, 12 a.m. PT - May 16, 2009 12 a.m. PT.  To enter without purchase or obligation, look for the daily clue on the @southwestair Twitter page and tweet your photo of the destination listed. If your photo is the first one we receive of the specified destination, you win! You warrant your photo will not be sexually explicit, unnecessarily violent or derogatory. It cannot promote drugs, alcohol, or firearms.  It cannot contain trademarks, logos or copyrighted materials owned by others.  It cannot depict the likeness of anyone without their permission. Entrants warrant that the photo is original. All entries become property of the sponsor and will not be returned.  Entries limited to one (1) per person. Sponsor is under no obligation to post any entry.

2. Drawing:    All prizes are guaranteed to be awarded.  Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

3. Prize: One (1) Grand Prize for each destination will consist of: 2 Southwest Airlines roundtrip tickets and 2 nights at an MGM Property in Las Vegas.  Value of Grand Prize is approximately $1,500.

4. Eligibility:  Contest open to all legal US residents, 21 years and older as of the start of the contest.  Void where prohibited or restricted by law.  Contest subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  By participating, entrants agree to these official rules and accept decisions of the Sponsor as final.  Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited by law.

The promotion is offered in the United States only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law.  Do not proceed in this site if you are not located in the United States.

5.  To Claim Prize: Winner only will be notified by Direct Message via Twitter, and will be required to complete and sign an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release and, where legal, a Publicity Release, which must be returned within seven (7) days after prize notification or prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner.  If prize notification letter is returned undeliverable, the prize will be awarded to an alternate winner in a random drawing.  Grand Prize winner’s guests, or if minor(s) their parent(s)/legal guardian(s), must execute Liability Releases, and where legal, Publicity Releases prior to the issuance of travel documents.  Unclaimed or undeliverable prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner.  Prize is not transferable or redeemable for cash.  Prize is guaranteed to be awarded.  Acceptance of prize constitutes permission (except where prohibited) to use winner’s name, hometown and likeness for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity in any media without additional compensation.

6.  Limitation of Liability: Neither Sponsor, MGM Properties, nor their affiliated entities, are responsible for printing or typographical errors in any related materials; stolen, fraudulent, entries or mail; or transactions that are processed or lost due to computer or electronic malfunction.  Winner is solely responsible for payment of all federal, state, and local taxes on prize and for any travel or other expenses not specifically mentioned in prize description.  Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify Contest if fraud or technical failure compromise the integrity of the Contest as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.  This Contest offer is being made exclusively by Sponsor.

Sponsor not responsible for technical, hardware, software or telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or fraud, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission whether caused by Sponsor, user, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the promotion or by any technical or human error which may occur in the process of submissions which may limit a participant=s ability to participate in this promotion.

7.  Winners List: To request a Winners Name List, send a self addressed stamped return envelope, after May 17, 2009, to Southwest Airlines Emerging Media Dept..  All requests must be received by May 30, 2009.  Utah and Washington residents may omit return postage.

8. Sponsor: Southwest Airlines Co., P.O. Box 36611, Dallas, TX.  75235-1611