Prince Harry teams up with Google, TripAdvisor, Visa and Expedia to launch eco-tourism project
The Duke of Sussex has announced the launch of a sustainable tourism campaign, inspired by New Zealand’s native Māori people.
Prince Harry revealed his new project on a television show in the country this week, working with six major companies including Google and Skyscanner to promote more eco-friendly travel.
The initiative, called Travalyst, was created as the pandemic subsided and international travel restarted. It published a report in January 2021, looking at the devastating impact of coronavirus on tourism, and looked at how to rebuild it in a sustainable way.
Speaking on the Maori Te Ao with MOANA programme, he said the project was inspired by his “deep connection and respect” towards its people and values.
He praised the community’s younger generation whoa are “rightly determined to make this world a better place”, calling the country’s native people “sustainability pioneers”.
“Māori culture inherently understands sustainable practices and how to take better care of our life-giving land”, he said, and the new non-profit, Travalyst, is “dedicated to making sustainable tourism mainstream for all of us”.
The initiative makes it “easier for travellers and travel providers to make sustainable choices” by creating a “uniform, industry-wide sustainability framework that is consistent, credible and easy to understand for both travel providers and consumers.”
The partners involved in Travalyst are Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor, Visa, Google and Expedia Group.