Carnival is encouraging travel agents to “pitch” to cruise rookies with a new  summer series of baseball-themed videos, quizzes and scavenger hunts filled with proven sales tips from Carnival and a variety of travel agents. Available on GoCCL.com, the series will span nine innings over nine weeks and provide agents with an opportunity to earn up to 5,000 points in Carnival’s Travel Agent Rewards Program through special codes at the end of each inning. Agents who complete all nine innings will be automatically entered to win a seven-day Caribbean cruise for two. 

“I’m on the road the majority of the year and what I hear most from travel agents is that the biggest opportunity for growth out there is with cruise rookies,” said Joni Rein, Carnival’s vice president of worldwide sales. “We agree and, based on industry estimates, there are 220 million people who have never taken a cruise in the United States. This summer series is all about getting back to the basics and helping partners narrow their focus and have some fun while finding cruise rookies right in their own backyards and communities.”

The first inning, which launched last week, features a video of Rein as a pitching coach giving a pep talk to her team at a baseball field. Travel agents may begin the series at any time and revisit innings they may have missed. Participating agents will find special codes at the end of each inning, which they may enter in the Travel Partner Rewards Program for points through September 2. Agents who have completed all nine innings may earn up to 5,000 points in the Rewards Program and be automatically entered to win a seven-day Carnival Caribbean cruise for two. New innings will launch every Wednesday through August 22.