Tourism Turns Amalie Arena into a Can-struction Site

“Tourism Gives Back” brings out hospitality community for Feeding Tampa Bay

TAMPA (July 12, 2019) – Thousands of families across the Tampa Bay region will know where their next meals are coming from this year thanks to the work of Tampa Bay’s tourism industry, which rallied a record amount of canned food and raised more cash donations than ever before for “Tourism Gives Back,” Visit Tampa Bay’s annual “food-raiser” event to benefit Feeding Tampa Bay.

Twenty-five teams and more than 160 participants put their creativity, spatial reasoning and steady hands to work designing and building sculptures built entirely from donated canned food. Amalie Arena hosted Tourism Gives Back and was a sponsor along with the McKibbon Hospitality, Outback Bowl, Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, and TECO, an Emera Company.

This year’s structure contest challenged teams to build bigger and more elaborate structures than in years past. More than 13,000 cans went into the creations, which included cruise ships, skylines, and Tampa’s iconic yellow streetcars.

Along with the donated food, teams raised cash, contributing to a total donation to Feeding Tampa Bay of $38,500 -- enough to provide 385,000 meals.

“I’m extremely proud of our tourism community for coming out in such strong numbers to support those living with food insecurity,” said Santiago C. Corrada, President and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. “We have such an incredibly generous tourism and hospitality industry. Great job.”

This year’s event included several new teams, including Publix, USF Health CAMLS, CBK Events, Economic Development Corporation, the Outback Bowl, among others.

“Every year, these teams step up their support for our community and raise the bar on their creativity,” said Santiago C. Corrada, President and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, which sponsored the event to benefit Feeding Tampa Bay. “Food insecurity is a plague in this and every community. It’s always humbling to see how much our partners in the hospitality industry are willing to do on behalf of the neighbors.”

The winners for “Tourism Gives Back” were:

Most Creative: FKQ Marketing

Judge’s Favorite: Yacht Starship

Best Use of Labels: Tampa International Airport

Structural Ingenuity: Port Tampa Bay

Most Team Spirit: McKibbon Hospitality

Most Money Raised: TECO, an Emera Company

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About Visit Tampa Bay

The hip, urban heart of Florida’s Gulf coast beats in Tampa Bay. Visit Tampa Bay encourages adventurous travelers to unlock sun, fun and culture in Florida’s most diverse travel destination. We are a not-for-profit corporation that works with 800 partners to tell the world the story of Tampa Bay. Treasure awaits.