Cocky Guides has launched The Value Exchange at the 2026 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE26) in Adelaide – a practical, experience-based initiative that connects tourism operators directly with blind and low vision travellers.
The initiative is designed to complement the important work already being done by accessibility consultants, trainers, and auditors across the industry. Where structured training and auditing provide the foundations, The Value Exchange offers operators a hands-on next step: the opportunity to experience their product alongside travellers with lived blind and low vision experience and receive frank, practical feedback.
Cocky Guides founder James McFarlane said the program is as much about commercial opportunity as it is about inclusion, pointing to a domestic market of more than 575,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision.
“There is already excellent work happening in the accessibility training and consulting space, and we’re not here to replace any of it,” McFarlane added.
“The Value Exchange sits alongside that work as a practical starting point or a natural extension – a way for operators to move from learning about accessibility to actually experiencing what it means for their product, with real travellers in real time.”
Through The Value Exchange, participating operators and destinations receive:
- Cocky Guides supported visits with blind and low vision travellers who review and provide practical feedback on products and services
- Lived-experience insight that helps businesses identify low-cost, high-impact improvements that benefit a much broader range of visitors
- Opportunities to promote their refined experiences to a network of travellers actively seeking inclusive options
- Access to Cocky Guides’ growing collection of bookable, inclusive tourism products – tried, tested, and ready to confidently serve blind and low vision travellers
In return, operators provide hosted famils or discounted experiences that Cocky Guides uses to deliver meaningful travel opportunities for blind and low vision Australians – many of whom face significant barriers to travel and social participation.
“A hosted experience with a Cocky Guides traveller and our trip leaders gives an operator something that is very hard to get any other way,” McFarlane added. “It’s genuine, in-the-moment insight from someone experiencing your product through a very different lens.
“The value flows both ways. The operator gains insight and confidence. Our travellers get extraordinary experiences. And the broader visitor economy becomes more welcoming for everyone.
“When you make an experience work well for a blind and low vision traveller – clearer signage, better lighting, more considered staff communication, less reliance on small print – you are also making it work better for an older traveller.
“The over-60s are one of the most significant and fastest-growing visitor cohorts in the country. They have time, they have spending power, and they are looking for experiences that feel genuinely welcoming and well-considered. The improvements operators make through The Value Exchange position them beautifully for that market.”
At ATE26, Cocky Guides is seeking to connect with:
- Tourism operators and suppliers interested in joining The Value Exchange as a practical, experience-based step in their accessibility journey
- Destinations wanting to strengthen their appeal to blind, low vision and older travellers
- Visitor economy businesses looking to complement existing accessibility training with real-world, lived-experience testing
“Whether an operator is just starting to think about accessibility or has already done significant work, The Value Exchange has something to offer,” McFarlane concluded. “It’s about taking the next step, whatever that step looks like for you.
“One of the most valuable things a business can do is experience their product alongside travellers with lived experience. That’s what The Value Exchange makes possible.”
