A quartet of major online travel brands have joined forces as part of a global partnership to encourage sustainable tourism projects around the world.
Booking.com
,
Skyscanner
,
Ctrip
and
TripAdvisor
, alongside payment giant Visa, have come together to form
Travalyst
in an effort to "mobilize the travel industry as a catalyst for good, aiming to transform the future of travel for everyone."
In short, they will work together in a series of initiatives to educate, raise awareness and, in their words, "promote positive change."
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In a joint statement, the four travel brands and Visa claim the project will focus on a number of areas that have come under the spotlight in recent years.
These include protecting wildlife, tackling climate change, environmental damage and overtourism.
The Travalyst project is being launched on the back of data it claims illustrates there is a growing awareness by travelers over issues around sustainability.
For example, Skyscanner says ten million of its users in the last 12 months selected flights with the lowest CO2 emission level (around 11% of those who saw the eco labeling in search results).
Seven out of ten travelers told Booking.com that they believe brands should offer more sustainable options, the online travel agency says.
Overall, sustainable tourism as a sector in its own right is predicted to grow by 10% to become a $340 billion business over the course of the next four years.
Skyscanner CEO Bryan Dove says the industry has a "responsibility to use our collective scale" to lead change.
He adds: "Global travel is a modern-day gift, bringing together cultures and communities across our planet. As such, we have an obligation to preserve our world for future generations to explore and enjoy - but to do this we need to act now as change won’t happen overnight."
Gillian Tans, chairwoman at Booking.com, believes the commitment from brands to work together will go towards building a global network of like-minded social entrepreneurs, NGOs and policymakers.
The Travalyst project was launched by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, in Amsterdam this week. The British royal has recently come under criticism in the U.K. media for his use of private jets for holidays and other trips.