Prince Harry to Launch Green Travel Initiative

It's great that Travalyst wants to educate the traveling public -- how do they plan to do so? On Instagram accounts? Article doesn't say.

As the wife of a retired railroad engineer I wish train travel was mentioned more in these articles. The republicans in the USA continue to try to defund Amtrak and to cut routes and services. Though the government continues to support Air, roads with subsidies. If you look at how trains can transport people with a lot less energy than any other form of transportation this should always be on the table with any kind of discussion. I imagine he took his private jet because of the trouble of getting to the airport and going through all the hassles of flying by public air where as a private jet would take so much less time. But perhaps if he hopped on the train at Victoria station and took the tunnel over to Amsterdam it may have been just as fast as his private plane, well maybe a little slower. I traveled all over Europe last year to 8 countries by train and found out how amazingly easy and fast and cheap it was. The article in the NYTimes about Sweden's youth starting a movement to stop using air transport was so enlightening. Let"s follow Sweden's wisdom. Millions in the USA would love to take trains more but Politicians don't seem to listen to what people want only to the money that keeps getting them elected.

Good idea for the ex-spare, Harry, to think of his career options. Now that his brother has produced his own heir and spare, Harry’s marketability has a short shelf life. And the British law of primogeniture ensures that Harry can never expect more than a stipend from the Crown estate - generous by any standards, but a stipend nevertheless. I wish him luck, but the Windsors don’t have a history of employability. And this venture seems likely to fold pretty quickly once the virtue signaling of avoiding travel wears off.

Cottages, I totally agree with your comment; I haven’t traveled a lot but I like viewing exotic places on PBS and a few other ventures; don’t want to spend a lot of money on trips and the jets polluting the environment is immoral; airlines should have to pay for the pollution they spew; any wonder the glaciers are black and are melting, we all know why.

We should all stop flying - except for family emergencies - for a year. Communities dependent on tourism can receive credits! Idealistic, I know, but really. Travel is travel and largely not good for the planet at all. (My list trip was on a train by the way.)

1.4 billion people traveled internationally last year. The amounts they paid (in air fare, lodging, etc) does not reflect the cost of the environmental and cultural destruction they have wrought (a burden for everyone else to bear). Any effort that does not dramatically increase the cost of and dramatically decrease amount of travel is virtue-signalling window dressing. That these solutions will come from the travel companies themselves is so implausible it is insulting.

1.4 billion people traveled internationally last year. The amounts they paid (in air fare, lodging, etc) does not reflect the cost of the environmental and cultural destruction they have wrought (a burden for everyone else to bear). Any effort that does not dramatically increase the cost of and dramatically decrease amount of travel is virtue-signalling window dressing. That these solutions will come from the travel companies themselves is so implausible it is insulting.

How can we in Hawaii get on board? We absolutely depend on the visitor industry for economic survival but at the same time, it's having a huge impact on the quality of life here. There need to be solutions that can maximize benefit for both visitors and residents.

Tourism is overwhelming "destinations." People live in those cities and countrysides and they are increasingly treated like theme parks. Tourism brings in huge revenue, it's true. City like New York can handle it pretty well - but smaller cities and towns designed hundreds of years ago are groaning. It's just slow strangulation by "demand" as more people have means. I don't know the solution. Probably it's the same as scuba diving, as mountain climbing (Everest???), we just have to stop being gawkers and "consumers."

He might want to cut down on the private jet flights then.

I'm not going to take this seriously until Prince Harry gives up the private jet life he is so fond of. What a hypocrite.

I like Harry. I like his wife. But - there is something so irritating about rich people (let alone those of the aristocratic class) telling the rest of us what do about anything when they themselves do what they please. He and his wife just took a private plane to France - perhaps he should live by the standards he tells others to first!

More “armchair” tourism opportunities, please! I am an avid viewer of explore.org live cams and live chats, and would gladly pay a subscription fee to enjoy them (though these are funded by Annenberg Foundation). Years ago, I would go with my father to attend “armchair travel log” lectures at UCLA - professors who shared slides from exotic travels to Switzerland, Africa, China, Yugoslavia, Mexico, Israel, etc. One person traveled, and hundreds learned. With today’s technology, it could be one person travels, and hundreds of thousands to millions learn. As with explore.org, I would gladly pay a fee to enjoy such opportunities - would be a tiny fraction of the cost of travel, and leave a tiny fraction of the carbon footprint. Charitable foundations could provide funding for schools, universities, lower income groups to enjoy these “armchair” adventures. Perhaps they could even replace zoos as we know them today.

Maybe not the best spokesperson for this initiative!!

Start with sustainable living. That means abandoning suburbs and using public transportation. The Royal family can abandon their many properties and move into London under one roof. Dump the Rolls Royce limousines and drive small electric cars... or better yet, walk or cycle. Too much hypocrisy

Prince Harry has a case of do as I say and not as I do. Will he stop flying on private jets and set a good example for those that do? Will he give up this convenience or just give lip service to appease us? We should pay close attention to his upcoming trips to see the decision he makes about his personal travel.

Many of the commenters are skeptical, as am I . I have dear friends in the travel industry, and I have also taken many overseas trips, using air travel. But I have come to believe that the most destructive industry , even more than energy, is travel. The Times has printed several articles in the past few weeks about the pressures on fragile environments caused by too many people with disposable income wanting to go to see great places on the planet before they are ruined by , of course, too many people. Unfortunately, there is no solution to this, short of many places simply banning tourism altogether, impossible in any event because of the economic interests involved. There are so many wonderful places that I have been, hitchhiking through Southeast Asia, and Europe, and South America, many decades ago, that have been ruined by population growth and development, and tourism. And I contributed to this, of course, although I was unaware of this at the time. The attempts by those in the travel industry to promote "sustainable tourism" are laudable. Sadly, though well- intentioned they cannot succeed as long as population numbers are so high, which will be the case for the next hundreds of years. Again, the only partial solutions to protect great places is to ban access (Bhutan has been somewhat successful in doing this by limiting travel and making it very expensive.) And places could and should ban cruise ships. And ban Airbnb. These things would help.

If Prince Harry wants his projects to have more credibility, he should practice what he preaches. I am skeptical of his efforts in light of his recent actions and think it is just another "celebrity activism" to improve his "brand". I agree with another reviewer in that he is tone-deaf.

Good ideas. But anyone who flies around on private jets and leads a cradle-to-grave life of unimaginable luxury is probably not the best poster child for environmental responsibility. Just saying.

We can always find hypocrisy with any person on almost any point. But that won’t solve one single problem, will it? Best of luck to Harry on this effort. The world needs as much goodwill and cooperations as we can muster.

I read the article anticipating a much needed advocacy for reduced flying as opposed to other means of traveling. When I have the opportunity to see a picture of a radar screen that shows the numbers of planes in the sky, I know the rich and well to do couldn’t care less about climate change and environmental recovery from pollution. Let the little people continue to give up plastic straws, that will do it.

First and foremost, this initiative or whatever it is should be internally-focused within the travel industry. The industry needs to get its own house in order. It is unclear from both this article and the Travelyst site what the actions are or will be – except to shift the burden and blame of outdated business models to the public at large. And yet, this initiative has been in the works for three years. Why no detail? Secondly, why is a 'prince' whose own habits spanning decades of poor decisions – including his own reprehensible eco-UNfriendly choices for years – now spruiking for a consortium of commercial companies? Key to the pact between the British Royal Family and the UK public that pays for their pampered existence is that the royals not engage in political or commercial activities. Or accept money.

Well, at least he's putting his money where his mouth is. Yes, he flies private with his family when necessary, but it seems he tries to avoid it when he can, as he flew commercial to this event. Initiatives like this get the ball rolling and get people talking about what "sustainable tourism" would entail, so I'm look forward to hearing more about it.

he seems quite tone deaf to me.

Good on you, Harry. Your mother would be so proud!

Travel on private jets, diva demands at Wimbledon...come on...and there's "Prince" Andrew. I stopped eating baloney sandwiches as a kid.

Ecologically sound or culturally sensitive tourism, like any well-intentioned goals, are only as effective as the codes of conduct governing everyone’s participation. The higher the standards, the greater the good. We hope this initiative will be effective in significantly reducing the carbon footprint, the waste, the cultural homogenization, the inequities, and the herd mentality currently characterizing over 90% of today’s tourism. Community-based ecotourism, tourism that educates travelers in embodying ethical global citizenship, and tourism that contributes to conserving biocultural diversity, would be a good start.

Initiatives like this one are always welcome. But let's get real: The only true green travel is a trip to your representative's office, to urge her to support a carbon tax.

I forgot, carbon credits offset the jet cruising. Such a noble taxpayer-recepient spender.

I quit taking cruises several years ago, bc they don't follow any environmental regulations. However, I just wish people would change their day-to-day behavior which would make a bigger difference. Imagine if ALL would not take a paper Starbucks cup, or forgo take out containers for even a day....less in the landfill every single day. I'll just keep it at that.

How will they be accomplishing this objective? What sustainable alternatives do we have? What commitments have they made, and in what time frame?

I’m not sure why I walked away from reading this article without a clear understanding of what solutions the collaborative will be recommending. I’m excited though for their efforts. Looking forward seeing more.

As usual, I hope that Prince Harry's green environmental sustainability efforts, his in the travel area, extend to mass transit improvements to reduce air pollution from automobiles.

I've seen a lot of criticism that the duke and duchess talk a good game, but they fly everywhere in private jets. This concerns me. Did he fly in a private jet to get to Amsterdam? I think the author should have mentioned this.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle need to get their priorities straight. Flying around in private jets while people in Britain are struggling is a disgraceful way to act as a role model.

Prince Harry leading a green travel initiative is about as credible as Trump leading an initiative against sexual harassment or Mark Zuckerberg leading an online privacy initiative.

Oh my. Don't be fooled. There is no such thing as "sustainability in tourism", unless you mean local travel on foot or bike. Otherwise, the entire travel industry, starting with plane travel, is a environmental disaster of huge proportions. There is no putting lipstick on this pig. Getting a prince to hawk tourism for Booking.com, SkyScanner, CTrip, TripAdvisor and Visa is reprehensible. Tucked away at the bottom - instead of at the top of the article, where it belongs: "The United Nations World Tourism Organization said that in 2018, 1.4 billion people traveled internationally, and it estimates that 1.8 billion international trips will be taken annually by 2030. Since 2000, the number of trips taken annually by people around the world has more than doubled, according to the World Bank, and there is no sign of these numbers tapering off". If anyone cares one iota about climate change they will NOT be adding to those numbers, which should freak everyone out reading. Seriously: we are up against the climate change wall. There is no debating this.