The first photo and video contest launched recently by Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, has so far received more than 2,000 photo and video entries.

First of its kind in the region, the 10-week contest launched at the airline’s Facebook site on July 10 has won over 3200 fans from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UK, UAE, India, Qatar, USA, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Malaysia, Germany, Kuwait, Italy, Jordan, Canada, France, Greece, Sudan and Thailand.

The contest invites people to enter photos and videos of any of Gulf Air’s destination cities and the entries are judged by a team of professional photographers to select the best photograph and video every week.

The winners will be rewarded with a free ticket to fly to one of Gulf Air’s destinations.

“We are amazed by the enthusiasm and keenness people have shown in taking part in the contest,” said Lars Denlew, Gulf Air director sales and distribution.

“Running such a contest online in a social media website such as Facebook is the first of its kind in the region and we are pleased to have set a trend by creating a new genre of creative and enthusiastic fans for Gulf Air.”

“The contest not only shows the growing popularity of social media websites these days but also goes to prove how these new media have been embraced by people and the business alike,” he added.

“Gulf Air has a separate Facebook website, which already has over 7000 fans - another first in the region and, together with the photo and video contest website, we have become a leader in the online social media scene in the region,” Denlew concluded. – TradeArabia News Service