Dennis Schaal

Skift Founding Editor/Executive Editor, member of leadership team: Author of The Definitive Oral History of Online Travel, The Oral History of Travel's Greatest Acquisition, Booking.com, and The Definitive Oral History of Short-Term Rentals. Dennis Schaal also wrote a Skift ebook, The Future of Travel Booking. He 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. Freelance for Boston Globe, Computer Shopper, and Etihad Airways Inflight Magazine. Also worked at The Star-Ledger, Connecticut Post, and was Editor in Chief of Corporate Responsibility Officer Magazine. Known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at conferences, including CEOs/top execs of Expedia, Airbnb, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, Marriott, Agoda, Skyscanner, Vacasa, and more.

Latest Stories

Tourism

Senators Call for China Travel Ban After Jump in Respiratory Illness Cases

Senators Call for China Travel Ban After Jump in Respiratory Illness Cases

Short-Term Rentals

Airbnb Lawsuit in New York Exposes Fake Listings Issue

Verifying listings has not been a top priority for Airbnb over the years. But trying to root out fake listings through verification measures is high on the agenda for 2024. The effort would leak into 2025 at a minimum.

Airbnb Lawsuit in New York Exposes Fake Listings Issue

Online Travel

Expedia, Airbnb and Uber Stop Advertising on Elon Musk’s X

These advertising blocks aren't necessarily long-term decisions so these brands could be back on X at some point when this controversy fades.

Expedia, Airbnb and Uber Stop Advertising on Elon Musk’s X

News Blog

Amazon Debuts Cyber Week Travel Deals

Amazon launched what one executive said was its "first-ever" Cyber Week Travel Deals. Amazon's travel deals hub offered sales from the likes of American Airlines, Disney, Universal, Budget, Choice, Avis, IHG and Carnival, for example. American Airlines, for instance, was offering a Black Friday deal of $89 for a one-way Philadelphia to Charlotte flight on…

Airlines

Latam Airlines Surpassed American and United for Lead in U.S.-Brazil Traffic

Latam's resumption of a Sao Paulo to Los Angeles direct flight pushed it into the lead.

Latam Airlines Surpassed American and United for Lead in U.S.-Brazil Traffic

Hotels

Wyndham Says Choice’s Latest Offer Is a ‘Step Backwards’

Wyndham is playing very hard to get. And unless lovestruck Choice is equipped to sweeten its offer, it may view this target forever as the one who got away.

Wyndham Says Choice’s Latest Offer Is a ‘Step Backwards’

Travel Technology

RateGain Raises $72 Million for Investments and Acquisitions

What's a tech stack these days if it isn't AI-powered? RateGain plans to use the raise to build its own through investments and acquisitions.

RateGain Raises $72 Million for Investments and Acquisitions

Ground Transport

Mexico to Boost Passenger Rail in Bid to Reduce Freight’s Dominance

Tourism would be a beneficiary if Mexico indeed gets serious about boosting passenger rail traffic.

Mexico to Boost Passenger Rail in Bid to Reduce Freight’s Dominance

Online Travel

Will Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Get an OpenAI Board Seat?

Will Sam Altman return to OpenAI? Will he bring Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky along with him as an OpenAI director? The competition will be intense for any board openings.

Will Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Get an OpenAI Board Seat?

Short-Term Rentals

2 Ways Airbnb Could Boost Revenue – But Individual Hosts Wouldn’t Be Happy

It's likely that Airbnb would introduce sponsored listings in the next few years. But higher host fees? Nah.

2 Ways Airbnb Could Boost Revenue – But Individual Hosts Wouldn’t Be Happy