The inspiration behindPrince Harry‘s new green travel initiative came from an unexpected interaction with a bold 7-year-old boy.
As the prince launched his new initiative, Travalyst, on Tuesday, he recalled meeting the young boy during a visit to a coral reef replanting project in the Caribbean when he was traveling on behalf of his grandmother,Queen Elizabeth, in 2012.
“I had a 7-year-old come up to me, tug my shirt, and say with such conviction: ‘Because of your country, my country’s coral reef is dying,’ ” Harry said during his speech.
“His words deeply affected me because they revealed the full impact outsiders can have on a community without even realizing it.”
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The speech came as Harryaddressed the recent controversyover his own use of private jets, admitting that “we can all do better, no one is perfect.”
Harry’s two-year quest to help to find answers came to fruition on Tuesday when he announced a partnership between him and a group of travel companies to help change habits among everyone from companies to consumers. Harry and wifeMeghan Markle‘s new charity foundation, SussexRoyal (which will launch in 2020), will team up with what he called some “heavy hitters of the global travel industry — Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and VISA.”
Prince Harry.Press Association via AP Images
He added, “These are organizations that can really make waves, and the tide is changing. Surfs up!”
Harry said he has learned over the last decade from visiting places he loves like Botswana and the Caribbean, Nepal and New Zealand, that “our world faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scope and scale. From deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, to ocean plastics and poaching, the problems can sometimes seem too big to fix.”
A passionate traveler and appreciative of the benefits it can bring, Harry clearly is not going to stop flying – and he is unlikely to stop using private jets. But he hopes that “if conducted responsibly, tourism can benefit communities for generations. It can build schools, create jobs, strengthen safety nets – and it can create a virtuous cycle, as communities protect what promotes further tourism,” he said. “Sustainability and economic stability, we believe, are two sides of the same coin. After all, healthy ecosystems are the lifeline for all of us.”
Press Association via AP Images
He then joined a panel discussion with Gillian Tans, Chairwoman, Booking.com, Jane Sun, CEO, Ctrip, Bryan Dove, CEO, Skyscanner, Stephen Kaufer, President & CEO, TripAdvisor and Al Kelly, Chairman and CEO, Visa.
source: people.com
