Dennis Schaal

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

Amadeus Branding Campaign on Future of Travel Places Itself In Central Role

Whether or not it plays a central role in reshaping the future of travel, give Amadeus credit for reshaping and repositioning the future of Amadeus. Once primarily a distribution outlet for travel agencies, Amadeus was an early mover into airline IT, and now it is building its hotel tech and search business, as well.
Hotels

Starwood Founder Barry Sternlicht Invests in HotelTonight

Does HotelTonight really provide incremental bookings without detracting from the hotels' own websites and apps? Several big hotel chains and Barry Sternlicht are now on board and apparently believe so. But, what happens down the road when the humble startup gets too powerful? That's something to consider, as well.
Cruises

Royal Caribbean Passengers Won't Get Full Refunds After Outbreak

In addition to a 50% refund on their cruise fares, the 630 stricken passengers on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas also get one future cruise day credit for each day they were incarcerated in their cabins. This hardly seems adequate, and Congress should give the cruise industry-written passenger bill of rights the old heave ho.
Online Travel

GetYourGuide Attracts Online Travel Heavyweights and $4.5 Million In Series A Funding

Although a stretch, GetYourGuide has frequently likened its desire to ramp up and aggregate the most tours and activities it can for each destination to that of Booking.com. Along with the founder of Qunar, GetYourGuide now has a Booking.com veteran, its former CEO, on board to help in the tour and activities company's expansion efforts.
Online Travel

JetBlue Could Spin Off Its LiveTV Subsidiary

With in-flight connectivity and entertainment such a hot commodity, JetBlue could spin off LiveTV or sell it to monetize an asset for its shareholders.
Hotels

Skift Q&A: How JW Marriott Is Targeting the Accomplished Traveler

Some may consider JW Marriott a bit stodgy, but the luxury brand knows what it is and who its guests are, and it is busy curating experiences to win their passions. With only 63 hotels currently, and another 35 on the way, JW Marriott must be doing something right.