Sean O'Neill

Sean O’Neill is Skift's senior hospitality editor, reporting on hotels. Send him news tips at [email protected]. He's been a full-time journalist for two decades. He lives in Washington, D.C. Stop him before he starts another home improvement project.

Latest Stories

Online Travel

Inside Priceline Group’s Diss of Trivago — The Backstory

What do a debate over landing pages, the acquisition of Momondo, a shift into hotel software services, and regulators forcing changes in online travel agency contracts have in common? Each of those seemingly unrelated things may have pushed Priceline to toggle back its spending on Trivago.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 6 years ago

Inside Priceline Group’s Diss of Trivago — The Backstory

Online Travel

Ctrip Relaunches Trip.com as Its English Language Travel Agency Brand

We had speculated before that Ctrip might use its newly acquired Trip.com domain for its own agency listings, displacing the travel recommendation service it recently bought. By de-emphasizing its Chinese origin, it may hope to ingratiate itself with more Western travelers.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 6 years ago

Online Travel

Google Flights’ New Look Moves Away From Travel Inspiration

Google made its claim to fame partly on the simplicity of its user interface. Its new interface for flight search is a return to its elegant design roots.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Google Flights’ New Look Moves Away From Travel Inspiration

Online Travel

Hostmaker Raises $15 Million for Short-Term Rental Management: Travel Startup Funding This Week

In the California gold rush, businesses once sold pickaxes to prospectors. In today's vacation rental gold rush, they're selling management services to the property owners. The safest bets are always adjacent services.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Hostmaker Raises $15 Million for Short-Term Rental Management: Travel Startup Funding This Week

SkiftX

Sojern Buys Ad-Tech Firm Adphorus to Better Compete on Facebook

Advertising on Facebook is an expanding strategic opportunity for travel brands. That's why travel marketing-tech startup Sojern is nabbing Adphorus, a travel specialist ad tech company in Turkey, as a bridgehead for growth.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Sojern Buys Ad-Tech Firm Adphorus to Better Compete on Facebook

Online Travel

Travel Companies Start Lending Consumers Money to Book Trips

Companies ought to carry out adequate checks on the ability of borrowers to repay travel loans on time. Otherwise, a surprise disruption such as an Icelandic volcano or an economic downturn could prompt defaults.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Travel Companies Start Lending Consumers Money to Book Trips

Online Travel

Online Travel Plunge Spurs Investor Wariness

When Priceline sneezes, the online travel industry catches a cold.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Online Travel Plunge Spurs Investor Wariness

Online Travel

Czech Website Creates Itineraries From Low-Cost and Legacy Carriers

The conventional wisdom is that major online travel agencies make it impossible for their smaller counterparts to break through. Kiwi.com is challenging that thesis, though it is very much early days.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Czech Website Creates Itineraries From Low-Cost and Legacy Carriers

Online Travel

Trivago Looks to HomeAway Vacation Rentals to Regain Some Mojo

This move could be a modest win-win for Trivago and HomeAway, which both fall within the broader Expedia Inc. orbit. But Airbnb and Booking.com remain fierce competitors for rental search, with Google waiting in the wings.

Sean O'Neill, Skift | 7 years ago

Trivago Looks to HomeAway Vacation Rentals to Regain Some Mojo

Announcements

Announcing Skift Tech Forum in Silicon Valley in June 2018

Skift Tech Forum will explore the tech disruptions happening in retailing, merchandising, and distribution of travel, with customer centricity as the connecting thread running across all the topics.

Sean O'Neill and Luke Bujarski, Skift | 7 years ago

Announcing Skift Tech Forum in Silicon Valley in June 2018