Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled a yearlong initiative, "WUATA:
Why Use A Travel Advisor," to help travel advisors gain new clients and
shore up loyalty in existing clients.
Carnival believes the campaign is the first of its nature
expounding the value of using an advisor.
Throughout the year, Carnival will host four WUATA Parties
(a wordplay on "what a party") around the country. The campaign also
involves social media promotions, giveaways, exclusive merchandise and text
alerts.
Also, a crowdsourced word cloud, WUATA Word, will expand as
the initiatives goes on throughout the year. Agents and clients are asked to
submit a single word
describing why using an advisor is beneficial, which will be displayed on the
word cloud.
CLIA and ASTA are co-sponsors who will be present at each
WUATA Party. The parties -- set for Orlando on May 8, Minneapolis on July 24,
New York on Sept. 8 and Los Angeles on Oct. 29 -- will be hosted by Carnival
senior vice president of sales and trade marketing Adolfo Perez, along with
Carnival sales executives and business development managers. The line's brand
ambassador and blogger John Heald will be at the Orlando party.
Travel advisors are asked to bring both a current client and
prospective client to the parties, which are aimed at converting those who
haven't worked with agents.
Advisors can register for the parties at GoCCL.com. They
will be entered into raffles for giveaways from CLIA and ASTA as well as a trip
to Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld event in November that includes airfare.
Consumers at the party will get an exclusive offer of a
three-category stateroom upgrade on select sailings. Perez said Carnival is
also giving away a seven-day cruise with a balcony stateroom at each event via
a raffle; Carnival will pay commission on the giveaways.
In addition to registering for the parties at GoCCL.com,
agents will also find tools to help reach existing and new clients.
Perez, who famously got a tattoo
reading "Travel Agents Rock" at a previous Carnival event for travel
advisors, said, "The proof is in my tattoo that Carnival is deeply
committed to the travel agent community, and by introducing WUATA we'll be able
to share our passion so travelers gain a comprehensive understanding of the
benefits of using a travel advisor."