Prince Harry opens the Travalyst Global Summit with message of 'building back better'

From his Los Angeles home, Prince Harry participated in a virtual summit for his passion project of sustainable tourism. Speaking at the Global Summit for Travalyst, the Duke of Sussex said that "we need to build back better."

On Thursday, Travalyst Global Summit hosted two sessions for participants across the world. The session addressed the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on tourism industry and the measures to be taken to revive the industry.

According to the Telegraph, Prince Harry delivered the speech at the opening of the travel conference and urged the participants to "build back better" after COVID 19 pandemic. He reminded everyone that we have the "responsibility" to "reshape the industry" that benefits everyone.

It is "a responsibility we cannot avoid or dismiss, for us to reshape this industry in a way that benefits everyone and everything for decades to come," the duke said in the video as published by The Royal Family Channel on its Twitter account.

In his speech, he encouraged the community that as they begin the work of rebuilding, it is important that they think about other cultures, environments, and be compassionate to "our friends, our family, and neighbours."

"It is in how we honour and cultivate this balance—between the unique and the shared—that we build mutual respect, foster empathy, and advance economic progress in a way that is just, to each other and the world around us," Harry told the attendees speaking through the video link.

"Before the pandemic unfolded we witnessed more and more young people expressing an interest in authentic travel experiences and an ability to partake in trips that are greener, that allow them to support local communities, uphold the heritage and protect destinations, and cultures," he added. "This is the future of travel, and a future that Travalyst is here to support and catalyse."

Harry's eco-tourism initiative Travalyst was launched in September 2019 under the charitable foundation, now-defunct Sussex Royal. It is an initiative led by the duke in collaboration with the tourism industry giants Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com, TripAdvisor, and Visa. The objective of the initiative is to change travel for good that will benefit the environment, local communities, and ensure the protection of wildlife.