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.

Hotels

UK Edges Closer To New Discounting Rules For Booking Sites and Hotels

The rules being discussed would apply to Europeans booking rooms in the UK, and the framework would be fairly narrow in scope. They do not address broader rate parity issues, but would indeed provide for more competition and would be good for limited numbers of travelers.
Business Travel

Ctrip Leads $100 Million Investment Into China Car Rental Company

It is rare, if not unprecedented, for a major online travel agency such as Ctrip to invest in a supplier, in this case a large car-rental company. Rest assured this is not a passive investment; the two parties plan to take advantage of the relationship.
Cruises

Carnival's Q4 Impacted by Higher Advertising Spend, Advance Bookings Show Weakness

Increased advertising, lowering cruise prices and trying to win back the hearts and minds of travel agents have been key to Carnival's brand-rebuilding efforts. Advanced bookings for 2014, even though they are on par with last year's lower pricing, have been sluggish, pointing to the challenges ahead for Carnival.
Online Travel

Sabre Lays Off More Than 200 Employees In Addition To Job Cuts at Travelocity

By bringing in former Continental chairman and CEO Larry Kellner as Sabre chairman, and installing Tom Klein as the new CEO, Sabre is signaling that it is readying a strategic move, possibly an IPO, in the near future. The Travelocity deal with Expedia, Travelocity divestments of zuji and Travelocity Business, and these layoffs may all be pieces of the puzzle.
Airlines

Norwegian Launches $178 Fares on Dreamliner from JFK to Bergen

These cheap fares are undoubtedly introductory ones, and heading to Bergen, Norway, however beautiful, isn't the most convenient for leisure travelers intent on making their way through Europe. Still, this is a bargain and could be disruptive if Norwegian can make some money on the route in a sustainable way. That, of course, is an open question.