Prince Harry made his first appearance after claims from his biography were published. Making his appearance via a video link from L.A., Harry delivered the opening speech at a virtual global summit for his sustainable tourism project dubbed Travalyst.
In his address, Harry, 35, encourage the travel industry to “build back better” after coronavirus pandemic, saying it is responsible for reshaping the way people travel. This marks the first time, the royal has made an appearance since his biography Finding Freedom was serialized by The Sunday Times and The Times.
The aforesaid book spills the beans on the rift between Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and the rest of the royal family. Harry went live from L.A. on Wednesday night to be on time for the first summit session, which kicked off on Thursday morning at 7 a.m. BST. A second session for viewers in America and EAMA is slated to take place later today.
“Many of you joining us today rely on visitors for your livelihoods,” Harry said in his open speech. Pointing out that businesses have been hit badly due to the pandemic, Harry noted that some business owners are struggling to put food on the tables and make ends meet citing lack of tourists, which leads to no income.
‘We need to build back,” he said, insisting that there’s a need to build back better. Harry said they had a responsibility for them to reshape the industry and this responsibility cannot be avoided or dismissed. He said the industry needs to be rebuilt in a way that benefits everyone and everything for decades to come.
Harry said Travalyst will support and catalyze the future of travel. This new global initiative was launched last autumn with leading brands such as Visa, Trip.com, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner, and Booking.com acting as co-founders. Travalyst currently operates as a U.K. based independent non-profit organization.