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Since founding Travalyst five years ago, Prince Harry has been "fundamental" to the global initiative. "It was his vision that started us on this journey," Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst, exclusively told HOLA! USA at the not-for-profit organization's five-year anniversary event in New York City. "He set that North Star for us, and he's been with us every single step of the way through the great times, through the incredibly tough times."
"In fact, he's probably been there more during the tough times, actually, because in the good times, he's like, 'Great. Fantastic. Crack on. Keep doing your great stuff.' But in the tough times, he always says, 'Tell me how I can help.' And he always is there," Sally revealed. "He's always across all the work. We have frequent calls, so he understands everything that we're doing, and he's always keen to understand, how can I help to go faster, further, better."
The Duke of Sussex launched Travalyst—an initiative that aims to "change the impact of travel, for good"—back in 2019. Speaking to HOLA! USA, Sally said, "There are a few organizations—that he's either founded or he's the patron of, and it's fascinating to see the thread between them. And so often conservation comes into that, right? It's conservation of precious, fragile environments through many different mechanisms. And I think that comes back to his systems lens and his systems approach."
"He sees the work he wants to be doing directly conserving areas. He sees the work that travelers can do that in the long run protect destinations in a way that very little else can. And I think there are threads through the work that he does and Travalyst really fits with that," Sally continued.
After speaking at the CGI 2024 Annual Meeting and Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho's UNGA 79 side event earlier in the day, the Duke attended Travalyst's fifth anniversary celebration on Sept. 24. Having the Duke present for the occasion was "amazing," Sally told HOLA! USA. "This is a huge moment for us to not only have made it to five years, like [Harry] said, there were so many people who told us we couldn't do this, that this would never work. So to have made it this far, but also to have achieved so much in that time, it just was so meant to be that our fifth anniversary coincided with Climate Week, with [the] UN General Assembly, with his 40th birthday," she said, noting, "It just felt very auspicious."
While the event did not "exist" 10 weeks ago, Sally shared that they realized they could not let the moment pass. She said, "It feels very, very special to have the opportunity while so many people are already in town to get together to celebrate both how far we've come, but also be very clear that this is just the start, but what's to come is just as exciting."