Traveleyes is the world’s first commercial international air tour operator (as distinct from a charity) to specialise in serving blind as well as sighted travellers. Established in 2005, the company is based in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

.

Traveleyes Holidays

Each holiday group includes an equal number of blind/partially-sighted and sighted individuals. Blind travellers pair daily with different sighted ones, and the sighted traveller describes the sights to their blind partner. The role of the sighted individual is to be a fellow traveller and not to act as a carer. Sighted travellers receive a discount on the price of their holiday in return for this ‘use of their eyes’.

Although based in the UK, Traveleyes now takes bookings from the US, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and indeed all parts of the world.

Lonely Planet Guides

As well as acting as a holiday operator, Traveleyes works in conjunction with Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...

 travel guides to produce specially formatted travel guides for blind and visually impaired travellers. The specially formatted guides are produced on CD, and run on PCs

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 and PDAs, through speech programmes and magnification software. Guides are currently available for Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and Andalucía.

Amar Latif

Traveleyes was founded by blind entrepreneur, television actor, director and world traveller Amar Latif

Amar Latif

Amar Latif is a blind British entrepreneur, actor, director, motivational speaker and world traveller. His blindness is due to the incurable eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa...

. Amar

Amar Latif

Amar Latif is a blind British entrepreneur, actor, director, motivational speaker and world traveller. His blindness is due to the incurable eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa...

 inherited the incurable eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some...

, which led, by the age of 20, to 95% sight loss. As well as founding and directing Traveleyes, Amar

Amar Latif

Amar Latif is a blind British entrepreneur, actor, director, motivational speaker and world traveller. His blindness is due to the incurable eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa...

 often acts as tour guide for the holiday groups. He was awarded the inaugural Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award in 2007 for his work with Traveleyes. This award is presented by EasyJet

EasyJet

EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...

 founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou , born 14 February 1967) is a British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin, currently a resident of Monaco. He is the scion of a wealthy, shipowning family, but is best known for setting up easyJet, a highly successful and profitable low-cost airline, with start-up funds...

 in partnership with the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability

Leonard Cheshire Disability

Leonard Cheshire Disability is a major health and welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1948 by RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire VC.In 2006–7 it had a total expenditure of £143 million, placing it in the top 30 of UK charities.-History:...

. He was also declared the ‘Outstanding Young Business Entrepreneur of the World’ in 2005 by the Chamber of Commerce International (JCI)

Junior Chamber International

Junior Chamber International is the only worldwide non-political and non-sectarian youth service organization. It is an international community of citizens between the ages of to with the aim and purpose of creating positive changes in the world...

.