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.

Hotels

Hotel Developers in Thailand Have Put 3 of 4 Projects on Hold

Hotel developers can't overcome their fear factor as they put 73 percent of new projects on hold. They're waiting for the return of Chinese and Russian visitors. They may be waiting quite a while.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Airlines

Investor 777 Buys AeroCRS to Build Tech Stack for Smaller Airlines

Investment firm 777 Partners hasn't only bought 68 Boeing 737 Max jets for its budget airlines. It has also been rolling up software vendors, competing with other airline tech providers.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

st regis maldives vommuli resort source marriott international

Hotels

Marriott Sees Record Direct Bookings at Its Hotels

Take that, online travel agencies. The world's largest hotelier not only drove more direct bookings but also saw strong growth in its loyalty program.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Hotels

In a Bet on All-Inclusives, Accor Will Quadruple Rixos Hotels to 100 by 2027

Accor said on Wednesday that it was speeding up the development of all-inclusive hotels with the launch of its "all-inclusive collection." Accor entered the all-inclusive segment in 2016 by cutting…

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Hotels

Hotel Startup Mint House Raises $35 Million to Target Business Travelers

Mint House reports some eye-popping performance metrics comparable to premium hotel brands. No wonder Allen Smith, the former CEO of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, has joined the startup's board.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Business Travel

Singapore Sees Business Travel on the Rise Once Again

In April, Singapore reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers. Since then, corporate travel agency CWT said that Singapore has seen the highest peaks of business travel since early 2020, according…

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Waldorf Astoria Chicago meeting room event space source hilton

Hotels

Hilton Forecasts Full Rebound in Group and Event Bookings Within a Year

The hotel heavyweight expects its all-important group business to fully recover within a year. If Hilton decides to book one of its ballrooms to celebrate, it'll find rates higher than in 2019.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Travel Technology

Sabre Signals Corporate Travel May Recover Quicker Than Some Expected

A corporate travel rebound is in the offing, says new data from tech firm Sabre. Bill Gates may have to eat his words, given his dire 2020 prediction about business travel.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

toast for hotel restaurants source toast

Hotels

Restaurant Tech Upstart Toast Puts Hotels on the Menu

Hotels are looking to upgrade the tech that guests use to order and pay for food. Toast's move into the market takes advantage of a surge in hotel spending on cloud-based systems, a key ingredient for upselling travelers.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago

Online Travel

Expedia Says Half of Recent Vrbo Customers Were New

It looks like the nonstop ads on TV and YouTube achieved something. But Vrbo risks being a victim of its own successful marketing. It's scrambling to add more vacation rental inventory in some places.

Sean O'Neill | 4 years ago