London, 29 February 2024: Travalyst, the not-for-profit organisation, founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex today welcomes Mastercard and Sabre to its coalition.
Mastercard and Sabre join other leading travel and technology brands in the Travalyst coalition including Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. The group, which represents a combined market cap of almost $3tn, aims to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make better travel choices. The addition of Mastercard and Sabre will help accelerate that ambition.
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry, with a mission of powering an inclusive, digital economy, where both people and planet prosper. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, Mastercard is focused on partnering across the public, private and social sectors to drive new solutions that combat climate change.
Sabre is a leading technology provider to the travel industry, specialising in delivering modern retailing, distribution and fulfilment technology for airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other travel partners around the globe. Sabre is committed to building towards a better tomorrow, enabling responsible travel choices for all.
Brad West, Head of Partnerships, Travalyst said, “The addition of Mastercard and Sabre aligns with our partnerships strategy and adds further scale to our mission. Bringing a payments technology leader on board, as well as enhancing our presence among key technology providers to the travel industry, means we are strategically poised to deliver on our mission to mainstream sustainability information within the travel industry to help drive change.”
“At Mastercard, we envision a world where each swipe, click or tap provides businesses and consumers with the opportunity to make more sustainable choices,” said Chad Wallace, global head of Commercial Solutions, Mastercard. “By joining the Travalyst coalition, we can further activate the power of our global network, insights and technologies to empower travellers to better understand the environmental impact of their business and leisure trips.”
Kristin Hays, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, Sabre said, “We’re committed to taking on the biggest opportunities and solving the most complex challenges in travel, so we’re thrilled to be joining forces with Travalyst and our peers in the industry to help drive more sustainable travel decisions.”
Consumers want to travel more sustainably¹ and sustainability is a top priority for the corporate travel industry² as well. Travalyst works to deliver clear, consistent and credible sustainability information, at scale, to enable people to make better travel choices. For example, the same flight emissions estimates are now available across the majority of Travalyst’s partner platforms. The lower-emitting flight is flagged which empowers the person booking travel to select a flight with lower-than-average emissions, reducing the impact of their trip.
Providing consistent sustainability information is key to driving travellers’ trust. Striving to transform the travel industry into a more sustainable one, by providing people with sustainability information, is a shared journey and both Mastercard and Sabre are fully aligned with Travalyst’s mission.
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About Travalyst
Founded in 2019 by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Travalyst is a not-for-profit global coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology: Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Mastercard, Sabre, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. Travalyst aims to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make better travel choices. Find out more at www.travalyst.org
NOTES TO EDITORS:
¹ Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2023 – 76% of travellers want to travel more sustainably
² GBTA Oct 2023 Business Travel Outlook Poll – Sustainability is a priority for the business travel industry with 45% of businesses ramping up investment in 2024
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Travalyst: [email protected]