Prince Harry launches eco-friendly travel scheme after he and Meghan Markle are criticised for using a private jet

3 September 2019, 11:41

Prince Harry has launched a new initiative. Picture: PA Images/Instagram/Getty

Prince Harry has revealed a travel collaboration created 'to protect people, places and wildlife'.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were heavily criticised last month for a using private jets to travel on their family holidays, despite their campaigning about environmental issues.

But the Duke of Sussex has seemingly ignored the disapproval by launching a global initiative to encourage more environmentally friendly travel.

Travelling to Amsterdam to kick start the initiative, Prince Harry ditched the private jet and took a commercial flight instead.

While details are few and far between, the scheme - called ‘Travalyst’ - will see him partner with a number of huge industry names such as Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa.

The Duke of Sussex spoke in Amsterdam during the launch of Travalyst. Picture: PA Images

A post from Harry on his Instagram page says he hopes to “find and implement solutions” that will help to protect people, places and wildlife.

It reads: "Travalyst is aimed at improving conservation, environmental protection and expanding local community economic development by encouraging sustainable tourism practices across the travel industry.”

View this post on Instagram

We are excited to announce the launch of ‘Travalyst’, a global initiative striving to change the impact of travel, for good. Partnering alongside key travel industry giants @Bookingcom, #Ctrip, @Skyscanner, @TripAdvisor and @Visa_US, our aim is to spark a movement to transform the future of travel, putting communities at the heart of the solution. We believe in the power and importance of travel. We also have a shared responsibility to our planet and to each other. • “I want to start with a little bit of background as to specifically why I’m here today, because as you may know, I am not a tourism or business expert, but through my travels I have observed the unique relationship between community and environment, and have noticed something alarming. There wasn’t the symbiosis or connection there needed to be and I wanted to understand why. I am one of those people fortunate enough to have a platform and I want to use it to tackle hard problems, in the hope of finding solutions…and that’s how Travalyst was born” - The Duke of Sussex The name #Travalyst comes from The Duke and partners viewing our role in sustainable travel as catalysts to accelerate positive changes in travel. Travel + catalyst = Travalyst #Travalyst aims to make travel more sustainable, to help protect destinations and benefit communities long into the future, and to enable consumers to make more environmental friendly choices whilst traveling. The Duke of Sussex, having invited the founding partners to start the conversation, believes that the organisations - with operations in nearly every country, hundreds of millions of customers that use their products every day, and business relationships around the world - have sufficient influence and the critical mass necessary to catalyse real system change in the travel industry, for the benefit of destinations, communities and ecosystems. To discover more about the new initiative, visit www.Travalyst.org

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Sep 3, 2019 at 2:15am PDT

Harry added in a statement: "Travel has the unparalleled power to open people’s minds to different cultures, new experiences and to have a profound appreciation for what our world has to offer.

"As tourism inevitably grows, it is 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. Bringing companies, consumers and communities together is our best chance to protect destinations and ecosystems for future generations."

The announcement comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were slammed for taking private jets.

The couple are keen supporters of environmentalism, but they were branded as ‘hypocrites’ after their trips to Ibiza and Nice via private jet.

But good pal Elton John was quick to defend the new parents - who welcomed baby Archie in May - and said he loaned to the couple who said he paid for the plane and paid to offset their carbon emissions.