Prince Harry announces massive travel sustainability project

The eco-minded Prince Harry is embarking on a massive travel sustainability initiative in partnership with key travel providers. (File Photo By E. J. Hersom, CC BY 2.0)

NEW YORK — The eco-minded Prince Harry is embarking on a massive travel sustainability initiative in partnership with key travel providers.

They aim to improve the practices of the global industry amid an ever-increasing number of travellers.

The Duke of Sussex picked Amsterdam, a city hit hard by over-tourism, to announce Travalyst at a news conference today with his partners, Booking.com; TripAdvisor; Visa; China’s largest travel company, Ctrip; and the Ctrip-owned fare aggregator Skyscanner.

The long-term initiative is focused on tackling the travel industry’s impact on climate change, improving wildlife conservation, and protecting the environment in top tourist spots around the world.

It aims to increase the amount of tourism dollars that go to local communities, and find answers to over-tourism.

In a statement, the duke says as tourism inevitably grows, it’s critically important to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices worldwide, and to balance this growth with the needs of the environment and the local population.

He adds that bringing companies, consumers and communities together is our best chance to protect destinations and ecosystems for future generations.

Harry drew criticism this summer when he and his family took a private jet to go on vacation, despite the flight’s carbon impact on the planet.

They had flown to the home of singer Elton John, who said the aircraft offered them needed privacy and protection, and was carbon-neutral because it was offset by a contribution to Carbon Footprint.

Last year, the number of international trips taken globally reached 1.4 billion, a number reached two years faster than originally projected by the United Nations tourism agency — the World Tourism Organization.