Writing in support of the non-profit’s five-year "milestone report", issued on Tuesday (1 April), the Duke of Sussex urged travel to set about reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 – in line with the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism – and make a pledge to protect and restore "at least 30%" of the natural world over the same period.
He also wants the travel industry to develop and promote "truly sustainable tourism" that more justly redistributes the economic benefits, helps reduce inequality, and preserves local cultures and fragile eco-systems.
"The road ahead is challenging, but I am inspired by our incredible network of collaborators and what we’ve managed to achieve together already, along with the energy our community continues to bring to the challenges we collectively face,” said Prince Harry.
Action required ’at scale’
The report, though, highlights some of the challenges and contradictions the industry faces if it is to bring consumers along on this sustainability journey.
While it cites a positive 2024 study by Booking.com showing more than four in five travellers (83%) consider sustainable travel to be important to them, additional research by YouGov highlights how only 30% of UK travellers with 2025 travel plans considered accommodation providers’ sustainability efforts – and only 13% of these travellers factored them into their decisions.
Travalyst said the level of desire outlined in Booking.com’s data "was not yet leading to action at the level we need to drive impact at scale", adding that during the next phase of its work, it would seek to work with partners "to close the gap between travellers’ desire to be more sustainable and the action they take".
In addition, research carried out by Travalyst in partnership with YouGov revealed that only three in 10 industry leaders feel "very well-equipped to deal with new sustainability regulations", while six in 10 said their company’s ability to offer a more sustainable product or service was dependent on demand from consumers.
The report outlines some of the steps it believes industry stakeholders should take to achieve its core goals, including an open invitation to all travel companies to join the coalition and use its resources to present customers with emission estimates for their flights and accommodation. Existing partners include Booking.com, Skyscanner, Expedia and Google.
In 2022, the charity partnered with Google to create a new standardised framework – the Travel Impact Model (TIM) – to collate and display flight emissions data with a view to making it easier for people to book lower-emission flights.
According to the charity, the tool has so far provided emissions estimates for more than 130 billion online searches. Travalyst has also created a tool to share sustainability information for hotels and holiday rentals, and to standardise the criteria for sustainability certifications bestowed on accommodation providers.
"We aim to be as inclusive as possible, which is why we have made this initiative free and accessible to all certification providers, no matter how big or small,” read the report. The charity also wants businesses to make commitments to transparency and data sharing to encourage progress and avoid gatekeeping best practice.
“We are working with our partners to provide guidance – directly from the industry – on practical implementation to ensure that what is developed is workable and scalable,” Travalyst explained, highlighting incoming new rules and efforts to measure environmental impact, including EU initiatives.
’Rising to the moment’
Guidance for individuals keen to make a difference include reducing long-haul travel, prioritising less carbon intensive forms of travel such as rail and seeking out accommodation providers with a Travalyst-approved sustainability certification.
The charity’s objectives for the next five years include launching a data hub to collect sustainability data for the accommodation sector and then expand this endeavour more widely throughout the industry. It also plans to update its certification system to align with upcoming regulatory changes, and improve the efficiency of the TIM.
“We have an opportunity to rise to this moment and demonstrate what it looks like when an entire industry joins together to do things differently,” added Travalyst chief executive Sally Davey.
