Like many travel advisors, Elle Pazmino enjoys going to industry events and networking with her peers.
But the Dream Vacations franchisee also holds down a full-time job in healthcare, which makes it hard to attend daytime gatherings.
So when she got an invitation to the Carnival Cruise Line Why Use A Travel Advisor (WUATA) reception at the Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City, N.J., on the evening of Sept. 18, she jumped at it.
"This was nearby, and we could come," said Pazmino, who co-owns the agency with her husband.
About 200 other New York-area advisors joined the couple at the party, which is the third thrown by Carnival this year. A fourth WUATA event for this year is scheduled later in Pasadena, Calif., followed by a grand finale at Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld conference in Fort Lauderdale.
The group reveled in the spectacular view of the lower Manhattan skyline across the Hudson River from Liberty State Park, where the waterfront restaurant is located. They snacked on hors d'oeuvres and sipped beverages from the open bar.
Some had their photos taken against a WUATA background by a device that could instantly upload it to e-mail or social media accounts. Others contributed a one-word description of the travel advisor role, which was then used to form a word cloud of popular choices, such as "knowledgeable," and "experience" and "advocate."
Carnival Cruise Line senior vice president for global sales and trade marketing Adolfo Perez explained the finer points of Carnival's Why Use A Travel Agent campaign.
Once the reception ended, the attendees were seated for a presentation, hosted by Carnival brand ambassador John Heald.
Among the speakers was Adolfo Perez, Carnival's senior vice president for global sales and trade marketing, who outlined the strategy behind the WUATA campaign. He also introduced video testimonials from happy clients, such as "Patricia," who booked a cruise by herself only to find it was an open-jaw itinerary and she would have to buy expensive plane tickets to get her family back home.
A call to her travel advisor "Jimmy" straightened things out.
Agents were invited to bring such "Super Fans" to the party. They could also bring a "not yet client," someone who, according to Perez, is a "prospect that they've been talking to that's really on the fence."
"Our goal is to educate consumers as to why it makes a lot of sense to use a travel agent. So it gives the [not yet client] an opportunity to come here and hear it from a third party. Coming from a supplier gives [the message] that much more credibility," Perez said.