BIOGRAPHY
Amar Latif is a blind traveller, entrepreneur and TV personality with an astonishing track record of facing up to major challenges. Due to an incurable eye condition, Amar lost 95% of his sight by the age of 18. Through sheer determination, he has managed to turn an unpromising tale of loss, into one of truly inspirational achievement.
Amar became known to millions through the groundbreaking BBC2 reality series, Beyond Boundaries (series 1), a jungle endurance expedition across Central America. Screened worldwide, this was a gruelling 220-mile trek on foot across the rugged interior of Nicaragua, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. Amar had to ford swollen rivers, cut through dense jungle, cross waterfalls, climb a 5,000 ft. active volcano and navigate the second largest lake in Latin America.
In 2004, Amar founded Traveleyes, the world’s first commercial tour operator to specialise in holidays for blind as well as sighted travellers. Traveleyes has opened the holiday travel industry to millions of blind and partially sighted people around the world, giving them the opportunity to walk with lions in Africa, sail the Ionian Sea and ski down Europe’s highest mountains. Amar continues to lead many of these group explorations himself; uncovering the countless wonders that world travel offers the senses.
For his entrepreneurial achievements, Amar received The Outstanding Young Person of the World accolade (Business / Entrepreneurial category) from the Chamber of Commerce International (JCI) and the prestigious Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award, presented by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.