AWS Travel and Hospitality Partner Conversations: Whistle

Christopher Hovanessian, managing partner of Whistle, joins Joana Todd, WW Head Accommodations and Lodging for AWS Travel and Hospitality, for a broad-ranging discussion around how AWS Partners are helping customers build resilience and prepare for what’s next in travel and hospitality.

During this unprecedented time for the industry, we have been inspired by the innovations that have been born out of disruption and will impact and improve the way we fly, eat, stay, and experience our world for years to come. Now more than ever, AWS wants to help customers succeed by connecting them to AWS Partners with deep AWS technical expertise and proven customer success to help travel and hospitality organizations build a resilient business and accelerate innovation. That’s why we’re honored to have Whistle as a launch member of the brand-new AWS Travel and Hospitality Partner Competency.

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Joanna Todd: Describe your company, the types of travel and hospitality work you do, and key travel and hospitality clients.

Christopher Hovanessian: Whistle supports over 10,000 hoteliers in 15 countries and 50 states with its top-rated guest messaging software. We believe that guest messaging platforms are a win-win for both travelers and hotels – especially with many Whistle clients touting the benefits of this technology including enhanced customer experience and improved operational efficiency. Clients love instant communication, the ease of sending automated messages via a real-time chat interface, to-and-from a guest’s preferred app or SMS.

JT: Many companies across travel and hospitality have been managing through a period of unprecedented disruption. What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced during this recent period and how have you helped clients managed through them?

CH: With all the uncertainty, our contactless messaging platform has actually helped keep many hotels’ doors open during the pandemic. By moving to digital communication, hotels can minimize the risk of COVID transmission while saving time through automated replies, simplifying registration with e-signatures, and getting real-time analytics to increase guest satisfaction. We make it easy for hoteliers to respond or triage incoming messages from guests whether through online reservations, check-ins, upsell requests, and contactless payments.

JT: It’s been an incredibly difficult time for travel and hospitality companies, but we’ve seen many companies investing for the long run. With all the uncertainty, why has your company chosen to invest in travel and hospitality at this time?

CH: It is our mission to help hotels quickly adopt a contactless messaging solution and provide a huge competitive advantage. We are excited about the future of travel and hospitality because we know the power of key partnerships and integrations will continue to make it easy for guests to use their preferred messaging app to make any request at any time.

JT: In the face of the current disruption to the travel and hospitality industry, we’ve observed incredible innovations coming from across the industry. How has your company innovated through these challenging times on behalf of your customers and what are you most proud of?

CH: Whistle is proud to be one of the first AWS Partners to achieve AWS Travel and Hospitality Competency status. Our platform’s quality, innovation, and pace makes it a great product. We don’t want hoteliers to miss an opportunity to engage with your customers in a contactless world.

JT: The travel and hospitality industry is incredibly resilient. As you look toward recovery, what role does technology play for your company moving forward? How do you see technology enhancing the customer experience and improving operational efficiency?

CH: Whistle looks forward to being a key to its recovery. As things continue to shift, so does the platform’s 100% cloud-based technology. We are continuously finding new areas to innovate and optimize our conversational artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)  features to better understand guests’ questions and requests, or ‘guest intents’, and prompts with the appropriate response. Moving forward, Whistle is looking to expand its offering primarily focused on artificial intelligence and streamlining operational workflows for guests and staff.

JT: How does building on AWS allow you to prepare for whatever the “new normal” in travel and hospitality will look like? How does the new AWS Travel and Hospitality Partner Competency help companies do the same?

CH: AWS provides Whistle with the necessary tools and infrastructure to rapidly deploy new, innovative functionality, and to scale reliably. Whether its new technologies or workflows, we are excited to provide an invaluable tool for hospitality, especially post COVID-19.

JT: What makes you excited for the future of travel and hospitality?

CH: While the threat of COVID-19 is still very much real, the adoption and focus on digital makes this an exciting time for all. Looking ahead, we can envision a travel and hospitality experience that has been optimized for both operators and guests. Digital will transform the mundane, allowing human capital to once again provide confidence in travelers.

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Christopher Hovanessian is managing partner of Whistle Whistle is a hotel and guest engagement platform that is 100% cloud-based. It helps tens of thousands of hoteliers and millions of guests by streamlining communications and hotel operations. Messaging has quickly become the preferred channel of communication for customer service in hospitality and is a crucial part of travel during the pandemic. For more information, visit www.trywhistle.com.

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Learn more and team up with AWS Travel and Hospitality Competency Partners.

See more Partner Conversations and industry insights on the AWS Travel and Hospitality Blog.