How a nonprofit is convening competitors to make travel sustainable

Dec 27, 2024

Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst, a nonprofit founded by Prince Harry, discusses her mission to unite competitors in the travel industry for sustainable practices. She shares insight into the initial skepticism surrounding Travalyst’s goals and how, in five years, they've made significant strides. The conversation highlights the importance of collaboration in creating actionable sustainability data, the impact of climate initiatives from COP29, and the rise of grassroots movements in responsible tourism, transforming how we can travel mindfully.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Navigating Harassment and Sustainability in Tourism

01:41 • 8min

Sustainable Travel and Industry Collaboration

09:17 • 7min

Sustainability Advancements at COP29

15:52 • 4min

The Shift Toward Sustainable Travel: Momentum and Collaboration

20:16 • 3min

As many of our ESG Insider listeners take trips to visit family and friends this holiday season, we’re focusing our final episode of 2024 on sustainable travel.

We sit down for an interview with Sally Davey, the CEO of Travalyst. This is a nonprofit that convenes a global coalition of some of the biggest names in travel and technology to make credible, consistent sustainability information mainstream and to help people make more informed travel choices.

Sally talks to us about the direction of travel for sustainable tourism — including the challenge of getting competitors to work together toward a common climate goal. When Travalyst was founded in 2019 by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, Sally says everyone thought the organization’s mission was “crazy.”

“Everybody said: ‘You will never do this. This will never happen,’” Sally recalls. “‘The online travel sector in particular is fiercely competitive and these folks don't work together. And even if they did, they're not interested in sustainability. And even if they were, they won't be able to get the data to the mainstream.’”

Five years later, she says, “we've proven out all of those points.”

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.

Learn about S&P Global’s net-zero solutions: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/net-zero

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