Nearly 100 Tampa, Kansas residents take vacation Tampa, Florida for free

TAMPA, Fla. - The name might be the same, but the two places are very different. Nearly 100 residents of the small town of Tampa, Kansas were invited to visit Tampa, Florida free of charge. 

"I was very surprised," said Tampa, Kansas resident Lance Diepenbrock. "At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but this is the real deal." 

It was arranged by Visit Tampa Bay, the organization that promotes tourism in Tampa. 

RELATED: Tampa meets Tampa: Residents in Kansas town invited to explore Florida city with same name

"We can market in the Midwest, bring them into this great town, and show them some love during the holidays," said Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. 

Ironically, Corrada said the idea happened by accident when one of his staff members was using her phone to check a route home. 

"She said ‘wait a minute, it’s too far, this mileage doesn’t make sense.’ She had actually brought up Tampa, Kansas and that’s where the idea was born," said Corrada.

Visit Tampa Bay reached out to Southwest Airlines, Busch Gardens, ZooTampa, the Floridan Hotel and other Tampa area businesses to host the visitors at local attractions and beaches. 

READ: Visit Tampa Bay anticipates record convention center schedule in 2023

It was the first time on a plane and the first time at a beach for Diepenbrock’s children. They would like to take Florida’s December weather back to Tampa, Kansas.

"There’s a chance of rain and ice Thursday," said Diepenbrock. 

But for now, there’s still time to soak up some sun on a surprise Winter vacation in this other place called Tampa.