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

First Look at the Exclusive Rates Hilton Wrested From Expedia

Rate parity and most-favored nation provisions are slowly fading as Marriott and Hilton offer lower rates to new and existing loyalty program members on their own sites than Expedia and Booking.com can. Don't underplay the power of a several-dollar discount in the race toward bolstering loyalty-program rosters through the lure of bottom-of-the-heap pricing.
Dennis Schaal |
Hotels

A New LeisureLink Attracts $17 Million in Venture Funding

Clearstone Venture Partners claims that funding LeisureLink is a better investment than in Airbnb or HomeAway. That may be a frivolous boast but what's clear is that a lot of people are going to make a ton of money on the business and distribution side of the vacation rental and alternative lodging industry.
Dennis Schaal |
Online Travel

Skyscanner Raises $192 Million in Funding at $1.6 Billion Valuation

Skyscanner has more or less been a bootstrapper in metasearch, growing mostly organically and profitably for the last seven years. But its challenge has been how to get to the next level. It's unclear how much of a difference this latest funding round will make since a chunk of it will be used as a payout to existing investors.
Dennis Schaal |