MIAMI — Carnival Cruise Line has launched a year-long initiative with special events, incentives and more, aimed at helping agents attract new clients and strengthen ties with existing clients.

The WUATA campaign (it stands for Why Use A Travel Advisor) will feature a WUATA Party (a wordplay on What-A Party) in four cities, social media promotions, contests, exclusive merchandise, giveaways, text alerts and WUATA Word, an crowdsourced word cloud that will grow throughout the year as the movement expands.

Tools are available on GoCCL.com to help travel advisors spread the word to existing and potential clients, says the cruise line.

“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,” says Adolfo Perez, Carnival’s Senior VP of Sales and Trade Marketing.

“Through WUATA, Carnival becomes the first cruise line to dedicate a year-long campaign focused solely on promoting the value of travel advisors, and we’re excited to get on the road to support the growth and success of our agent partners.”

So far all the WUATA Parties are in the U.S. Carnival will host WUATA Parties in Orlando on May 8; Minneapolis on July 24; New York on Sept. 8; and L.A. on Oct. 29. The WUATA Parties will be hosted by Perez along with Carnival sales executives and business development managers. John Heald, the line’s popular brand ambassador and blogger, also will be at the Orlando event.

For each WUATA Party, advisors can invite a current client to attend, who is encouraged to bring a ‘not-yet-a-client’ along for a fun and informative experience.

Each WUATA Party will feature remarks from ASTA President Ann Chamberlin and Charles Sylvia, VP Membership and Trade Relations for CLIA.

WUATA parties will also feature stories from Carnival Diamond guests and their personal travel advisors. Each event will include a drawing for one seven-day balcony cruise for a consumer winner plus commission for that guest’s travel advisor.  All consumer guests will receive an exclusive Carnival offer of a three-category stateroom upgrade and Travel Advisors will participate in drawings for gifts from CLIA and ASTA. To register for a WUATA Party, travel advisors can visit GoCCL.com.

Meanwhile ‘WUATA Word’ is a yearlong initiative that invites travel advisors and their clients to choose a single word that describes why using a travel advisor is beneficial.

Once submitted online at WUATAWord.com, the word will join an always-growing digital word cloud. The WUATA Word cloud will be displayed at WUATA Parties and on GoCCL.com.

Clients and travel advisors can opt-in to receive text alerts from the WUATA program throughout the year by texting ‘Yes’ to 1-866-GO-WUATA (469-8282). The alerts make it convenient to receive updates on new WUATA features and tools added throughout the year, as well as learn about the latest news, contests, offers and participation opportunities that spread the WUATA message, says Carnival.

For more information see the line’s travel agent Internet portal at GoCCL.com.