While on his engagement on Wednesday- a summit for his sustainable tourism project, Travalyst, in Edinburgh Prince Harry asked to be referred to as ‘Harry’.
Host, Ayesha Hazarika while making an introduction of the royal, told delegates: “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry. So ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, warm, Scottish welcome to Harry.”
Taking to Instagram SussexRoyal account, it said that the founding partners are working with the Duke, “backed up by consumer demand, to transform travel and tourism globally so that every holiday people take, every trip they book, can have a positive impact on the destinations they visit.”
During his speech, Harry said: “Tourism is one of the world’s largest economic sectors – generating nearly 9 trillion dollars globally each year – representing 1 in 10 jobs and more than 10% of the world’s GDP – and, it is rapidly growing. It is predicted that tourism will reach over 1.8 billion travellers by 2030. If we do not act, and in large part get ahead of this inevitable surge, this massive increase will mean we see more of the world’s beautiful destinations closed or destroyed, more communities becoming overwhelmed, more beaches shut because of pollution, and animals and wildlife driven from their natural habitat, which has a huge impact on communities and reduces tourism opportunities.
“But we are here to find ways to make sure that does not happen. We all see a future where people are able to take holidays and trips that have social, environmental and economic benefits to communities and destinations built-in. Based on our research, there is an increasing desire for these types of trips – and we want to make them a reality for everyone, but we can’t do it without your help. We want to hear truths and perspectives from across the industry. We know that we do not need to reinvent the wheel – a lot of great work has already been done, but our research, again, shows that many of these endeavours have failed to scale or reach the consciousness of consumers. We have to work together with partners, experts, operators, communities, and others to scale-up the good practices already being used around the world.”
Representatives from the Scottish tourism and travel sector joined event partners Visit Scotland and EIC to help test and develop the latest work at the summit, making Scotland one of the world’s fastest growing tourist destinations and the Duke was at the event to hear what they’re doing to put sustainability at the forefront of holidays that protect the environment and support local communities.
Over the next couple of weeks, the Sussexes will carry out their final royal duties before they officially step back on 31 March.
