We are delighted that SeeAbility Charity Patron, business entrepreneur and TV personality, Amar Latif has been recognised with an OBE for his work with his innovative company Traveleyes. 

The honour came out of the blue for Amar, who said: 

“It came as a total shock and surprise to receive my OBE, and it really made me think about all the incredible people in my life that have helped me get to where I am and have restored my faith in humanity along the way.” 

Announced in the King’s Birthday Honours List, Amar was awarded the OBE for services to the Visually Impaired and to Entrepreneurship. Amar’s company Traveleyes provides worldwide group holidays for blind and sighted travellers. He is passionate about ensuring visually impaired travellers never have to accept restrictions on their world travel aspirations. 

“When I lost my sight at 18, it took some time to get over the initial shock but once that had subsided, I realised that I had one life and I might as well get on with living it to the fullest. 

“After working in the world of finance as an accountant for many years, I decided I wanted to travel and see the world but whenever I tried to book onto a group holiday, I faced rejection by mainstream tour operators. This made me realise that if I wanted to change this narrative, I would have to build an alternative myself. 

“So, I set up the world’s first international commercial tour operator to enable blind travellers to travel independently on their own terms – and the great thing is, we do not exclude sighted folk. It doesn’t matter if you have no experience of blindness, sighted people can join Traveleyes tour groups and act as the eyes for a different blind traveller each day, whilst travelling at a reduced price and enjoying the adventure of experiencing the world from their blind partners’ perspective. 

“We now go to over 70 destinations a year, with holidays ranging from discovery tours to active holidays and relaxing sunshine breaks.” 

In 2019, we tried the unique Traveleyes experience for ourselves, when we partnered with Amar on a special fundraising trek for our 220th anniversary. With a mix of sighted and visually impaired trekkers, the group headed to the top of Mount Toubkal, Morocco’s highest peak. Amar himself joined the trek, guided by our other Charity Patron, journalist and presenter Helen Fospero. 

“I am so pleased that Amar’s work has been recognised in this way. Amar’s mentality aligns perfectly with our own at SeeAbility – we are both passionate about creating opportunities for everyone to feel included in society. His positivity and refusal to give up is infectious and is why I supported his nomination for this honour. Congratulations Amar!” - SeeAbility CEO Lisa Hopkins 

Amar is always on the hunt for more people to experience a Traveleyes tour, even inviting HRH Princess Anne as she pinned his OBE to his chest: 

“I feel honoured that over 20 years of hard work has been recognised in this special way and I had a lovely time speaking to Princess Anne, who was fascinated by the story of Traveleyes. She said she is up for joining one of our tours too – so watch out!” - Amar Latif OBE 

Photo of Amar holding his OBE by Andrew Matthews.
Photo of Amar receiving his OBE by Aaron Chown.