PHOTO: Joseph Shanley with his guide dog "Sparky." (Courtesy of Joseph Shanley)

Travel professionals play a vital role in a tourist’s vacation experience through their extensive knowledge of the travel industry and their willingness to lend a helping hand.

However, fulfilling all of the specific demands of the traveler comes as no easy task, especially for 42-year old Joseph Shanley, a travel agent who became visually impaired after a car accident left him blind in 1992.

On the advice of friends, who thought he would make the perfect agent because of his charismatic personality and comforting phone voice, Shanley began his second career in travel. He plunged full-force into his New York-based Joe’s Getaways website, which focuses on cruise, families and romance travel.

His love for going to different places and experiencing local foods and culture shines brightly. Even brighter is his enthusiasm for matching travelers to their dream vacations. With a passion for travel this deep, the obstacles of working in a visual world are easily overcome.

“I am not able to look at the screen so I have to scroll all the way down to locate specific links,” said Shanley who uses a screen reader, which directs him through the myriad of destination and cruise information that floods the web.

“The most challenging parts are the flashes on websites and to identify what themes really look like to make my website look professional. Especially trying to stay as independent as possible, without having someone constantly over my shoulder critiquing my page.”

The GPS-like voice of the screen reader doesn't do much to illuminate the look and feel of a website, but you'd never know it from the slick, professional look of Joe's Getaways. And no screen reader in the world can match the excitement in his customers’ voice after a job well done.

“I know that traveling can be hectic so I get the pleasure in taking the stress out of the experience and I am going to do whatever it takes.”

Shanley also acknowledges that in order to be successful in the industry travelers need to know that their agents are paying close attention to their specific needs and caters to them as accurately as possible.

“With all my years of working in the hospitality field and a background in customer service, travelers want to be comforted by a human being. I will do my best to give them exactly what they want, rather than what they think they want.”

And with his 43^rd birthday right around the corner, Shanley will soon experience his very first cruise and design the perfect itinerary for himself, for a change. Who better, after all?