Sean O'Neill Archives

Sean O’Neill is Skift's Senior Hospitality Editor. Sean's forte is reporting, and he's broken multiple industry scoops. Sean has also received praise as an event moderator, having interviewed the CEOs of major hotel groups such as Marriott, Hilton, and IHG on stage. He writes analysis pieces that pinpoint industry trends, and he profiles rising industry leaders. In his personal life, someone should stop him before he starts another home improvement project.

Business Travel

Artificial Intelligence Is Coming to Corporate Booking Tools

Corporate-booking technology vendors Serko and Concur plan to add natural language bots to their tools. Other players are likely to follow.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Online Travel

Four Small Online Travel Companies That Are Going International

Venture capital firms are turbo-charging the European expansion of the Dutch group Otravo and the French startup MisterFly. Elsewhere, Rehlat and Jumia Travel are taking flight.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Ashley of the blog noplacelikeanywhere does home exchange

Online Travel

GuestToGuest Gets $35 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Let's hope that GuestToGuest's bet on home-swapping ends better than General Catalyst's $15 million investment in Couchsurfing did. Plus, two startups — Hostmaker and Travis — raised money.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Ground Transport

Hertz's Latest Twist Is Adding Private Driver Services From Blacklane

Everyone has had a rental car nightmare — lost bookings, mysterious dents, or surprise fees. But rental car companies now face a nightmare of their own in fierce car-sharing competition. Expect Hertz's Blacklane deal to be one of many initiatives as it copes.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Hotels

Vacation Rental Company TurnKey Raises $21 Million

Just as entrepreneurs once sold pickaxes to prospectors in the California gold rush, TurnKey is one of many companies selling services to property owners in today's vacation rental gold rush.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Online Travel

5 New Asian Travel Startups Incubated by Amadeus

Making things predictable — such as train ticket confirmations, airport security lines, mobile phone data fees, how to get from point to point, and the effect of events on hotel demand — is a theme of this batch of startups.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Hotels

RedAwning Adds a Struggling VaycayHero to Its Branded Vacation Rental Network

Airbnb, Booking.com, and other giants in vacation rental bookings aren't providing the branding and technology needed by professional property managers in resort destinations. RedAwning's model points to one of several ways to fill the gap.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

accelerate its international expansion this year after raising US$30 million from its Series B fundraising, led by Sequoia Capital China.

Online Travel

Klook Raises $30 Million for Attractions Search: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Two success stories this week: Last year Klook helped travelers book more than five million attractions and activities, making it Asia's booking leader. Meanwhile, major airlines have been adding LocusLabs' maps to their apps at a torrid pace.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

finnair skyscanner amadeus ndc flight instant booking

Online Travel

Skyscanner Enlists Finnair for Most Robust Airline Instant Booking Yet

As we've noted before, a lot of industry professionals argue that metasearch and online travel agencies will converge. Skyscanner's new way of selling Finnair's fare families may be a sign of trends to come.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago

Online Travel

Trivago Thinks It Knows How to Outwit Google

Trivago's CEO says his company bests Google in hotel search through brand marketing (meaning, Trivago Guy TV ads) and having a decentralized workplace (which speeds up innovation). But maybe Google's lackluster travel effort is actually due to its fear of alienating top advertisers like Priceline.

Sean O'Neill | 8 years ago