The Leeds-based tour operator was born out of entrepreneur Amar Latif's frustration at the lack of options available to blind travellers.

When Amar Latif discovered that the sort of travel experiences he was looking for didn’t exist for blind travellers, he was faced with two options. He could either do without, or organise them himself. Not being afraid of a challenge he decided on the latter option and in April 2005 the Leeds-based tour operator Traveleyes was born.

Latif, 33, was born in Glasgow, had the genetic eye condition retinitis pigmentosa diagnosed when he was four years old and had lost 95 per cent of his sight by his late teens. He decided that he would never allow his condition to get in the way of living his life and enrolled at the University of Strathclyde to study for a BSc in mathematics, statistics and finance.

On leaving university he was surprised at how hard it was to find a job. He says: “It doesn’t surprise me that 75 per cent of blind people of working age are unemployed. I got a lot of rejections while my peers all seemed to find jobs easily. I realised that potential employers had reservations about employing a blind person so from then on I would do a five-minute presentation before every interview. After that I ended up getting job offers for every interview I attended.”

Latif trained as an accountant and went on to manage a team of accountants for BT in Leeds.

Traveleyes is the first travel operator of its kind anywhere in the world. Sighted travellers are given a subsidised rate in return for acting as eyes and translating visual experiences for their blind fellow-travellers. He says: “The blind travellers are fully independent people; the sighted traveller’s role is not to be a carer, but to act as the eyes. We try hard to offer holidays that are rich in sensory experiences for blind travellers. Recent trips have included a cooking holiday in Tuscany and kayaking in Turkey. A particular favourite of my own was having the rainbows at Niagara Falls described to me.”

The company is showing steady growth with turnover up from £11,700 in its first year to a projected £100,000 for 2007-08. Plans for 2008 include expanding the business into other English-speaking markets, Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada and South Africa.

Latif believes that being a blind entrepreneur is no different to being a sighted one. “I struggle occasionally with certain information not being in an accessible format and I do sometimes have to deal with people’s preconceptions as to what blind people can achieve, but aside from that it’s no different.”

The success of his company has not gone unnoticed and in December Latif was awarded the Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award run by the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability. He was presented with prize-money of £50,000 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyGroup.

After selecting him as the winner of the award, Sir Stelios was so impressed with Latif that they are now in talks about a possible tie-up between Traveleyes and easyCruise.

“I’m a huge fan of Sir Stelios,” Latif says. “He made travel accessible to the masses and that’s what I’m trying to do in my own small way with Traveleyes. I was blind and I wanted to see the world. I want my company to allow others to do the same.”

For much information on Traveleyes visit www.traveleyes.co.uk