Sean O'Neill

Sean O’Neill is Skift’s Senior Hospitality Editor. Sean’s forte is reporting, and he’s broken multiple hotel industry scoops. He has also conducted 1:1 interviews on stage with the CEOs of Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, and Wyndham.

Online Travel

5 Travel Startups Popularizing Installment Payments for Vacations

In the past nine months, a group of relatively low-profile startups began signing up brands like Expedia and United Vacations to the concept of layaway plans for buying travel.

Sean O'Neill | 9 years ago

Airlines

Lufthansa Calls Direct Booking a Success as British Airways Is Poised to Copy It

Lufthansa is investing in direct booking connectivity with corporations (and the commercial initiatives to make them happen). The technological and commercial Tarmac being laid may pave the way for others, like IAG's British Airways.

Sean O'Neill | 9 years ago

Online Travel

Tour Booking Platform Rezdy Raises $1.8 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week

It has been a big week for small players, as investors placed bets on startups in these sectors: tours-and-activities, ground transportation, Brazilian flight booking, and digital marketing.

Sean O'Neill | 9 years ago

Online Travel

Skift’s Top Travel Startups to Watch in 2017

Here are innovative young travel companies, from Medellín to Beijing, that are poised to achieve escape velocity.

Sean O'Neill | 9 years ago

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 | 9 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 | 9 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 | 9 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 | 9 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 | 9 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 | 9 years ago