From pity to allyship: reimagining inclusive tourism through blind-led sensory experiences

This study explores how structured sensory deprivation—specifically, complete darkness—can transform inclusive tourism from a transient emotional encounter into a catalyst for attitudinal and intention-based change. Drawing on twenty phenomenological interviews with participants of blind-led dining experiences in Vietnam, the research identifies a three-stage emotional trajectory: pity, empathy, and allyship. Findings demonstrate how darkness disrupts visual dominance, enabling meaningful role reversals and amplifying the agency of visually impaired guides. This sensory reordering reframes disability from a site of deficit to one of expertise, facilitating durable attitudinal shifts and allyship-oriented advocacy. By operationalizing Batson’s Empathy–Altruism Hypothesis in a real-world setting, the study proposes a novel framework for inclusive tourism that reconceptualizes empathy as a dynamic, progressive process shaped by sensory design. Theoretically, the research enriches inclusive tourism scholarship by integrating emotional progression, sensory design, and disability inclusion into a cohesive model of transformative allyship-based experience. Practically, it offers design principles for tourism encounters that center empowerment over charity. The findings invite broader applications of sensory disruption across cultural, educational, and heritage contexts as a means of fostering mutual understanding, social equity, and lasting impact.