Prince Harry announces Travalyst summit to rebuild tourism industry after virus pandemic

Prince Harry's eco-tourism initiative Travalyst is conducting a Global Summit as the travel and tourism industry attempts to recover from devastating effects of coronavirus pandemic. The organisation will come together with other major stakeholders of the industry to revive travel and tourism "keeping sustainability at the heart" of the recovery efforts.

The summit will be hosted by Travalyst virtually on Thursday, July 30, according to the press release on its website. The sustainable tourism scheme is an initiative led by the Duke of Sussex in collaboration with the industry giants such as Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com, TripAdvisor and Visa. It aims at reimagining travel and tourism in a way that it will benefit the environment, local communities, and ensure the protection of wildlife.

Acknowledging the damages to the industry due to COVID-19 pandemic, the duke wants to help one of the world's largest service sectors to recover from the unprecedented shutdown in coronavirus-era. In association with the partners, Travalyst will attempt to be "building back the industry" and support the communities and destinations that thrive on tourism. He believes this is an opportunity for them to rebuild the industry for a "more balanced and equitable future."

"The global pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, and in the process destinations and communities who rely on travel and tourism for their livelihoods are facing a challenging and uncertain reality. Meanwhile, we must remember that the growth of tourism was on an unsustainable trajectory. As the travel and tourism industry begins to recover, we want to learn from those who are keeping communities and sustainability at the heart of what they are doing to build back better," reads the message by Prince Harry.

The summit will take place in two sessions in order to cover participants from different locations around the world. The session for Asia Pacific countries will take place at 0700 – 0900 BST and the second session for EMEA and American countries will be held at 1600 – 1800 BST. The summit will include Travalyst partner insights, discussion about "how can a robust sustainability strategy aid in the recovery of travel and tourism?" and "how to rebuild tourism for a more sustainable and balanced future."

Travalyst, the sustainable tourism programme was launched by Harry in September 2019 during his visit to the Netherlands under his charitable foundation, now-defunct Sussex Royal.