Dennis Schaal Archives

Dennis Schaal is Skift’s Founding Editor and Executive Editor. Dennis has been a reporter focusing on online travel and short-term rentals for more than two decades at Skift, Tnooz, USA Today, and Travel Weekly. He is well-known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at Skift events, including with the CEOs and top execs of Expedia, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, and more.

Online Travel

Southwest Lawsuit Alleges Skiplagged and Kiwi Collude to Deceive Flyers

The smart money has Southwest prevailing in this lawsuit against Skiplagged, given the airlines's 17-year history of beating back such alleged interlopers. On the other hand, when it came to an Orbitz lawsuit, Skiplagged knew how to bob and weave.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Google Launches Attractions Tickets Globally on Mobile

Eventually, Google's new Tickets feature may turn out to be one of the most important developments in a long time for the tours and activities sector. Google will certainly move to monetize the feature with paid ads, and it will ultimately expand to tours, and other products, too.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Trivago and Kayak Split Over Travel Metasearch’s Future

Trivago is stepping into an arena where many companies before it have failed, namely travel inspiration presented considerably before people would be ready to book. If it succeeds, Trivago would be breaking relatively new ground among metasearch competitors.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Announcements

Calling Travel’s Future Without Fear Then and Now on Skift’s 9th Anniversary

When we officially launched Skift on July 30, 2012, we couldn't have envisioned the insanity and tragedy of 2020 and 2021. But we got through it as a company, and much of the global travel industry, licking its wounds, has likewise proved to be as adaptable as the circumstances demand.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Former Expedia CEO Knew Copying a Rival Was a ‘Recipe for Death’

Business school students can probably debate this question endlessly and there would be merit in either position: Should smaller companies copy their larger rivals or vice versa? In the Google era, marketing power often wins the day — but differentiation still counts.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Have Price-Based Travel Decisions Lost Their Appeal?

While climate change and the pandemic clearly ratcheted up travelers' concerns about factors other than price, are we at the point that Airbnb will compete against Vrbo, and Booking will battle Expedia over which companies have the lighter carbon footprints? That would indeed be progress.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Business Travel

India’s MakeMyTrip Sees Strong Recovery in Domestic Business Travel

Business travel is showing significant signs of life in India. That could bode well for corporations and road warriors in other geographies, too.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Travel and Fintech Are Colliding in New, Exciting Ways

Fintech is trending, and likewise for superapps in certain parts of the world. Getting into travel is too delicious to resist, but the world is not ending for incumbent travel competitors.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Tourism

Communities Are No Longer Spectators in Tourism’s Future

How can the tourism industry strengthen its relationship with communities? Simple: it needs to embrace the fact that it's the communities who invite stakeholders in, and who give them a seat at the table, not the other way around.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago

Online Travel

Hopper Sells Travel But Its Fintech Hedging Drives the Growth

Hopper makes more money on add-on, fintech-oriented services than on selling travel — even the usually juicy hotel business. The business isn't profitable but who cares when grabbing market share is on the agenda.

Dennis Schaal | 5 years ago