With the aim of raising awareness of the need for disability inclusion and setting out a clear and succinct action plan to improve the inclusion and representation of individuals with disabilities and relevant organizations in the BiH tourism sector, USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Turizam) has developed and promoted the Disability Inclusion Analysis and Plan For the first time, BiH has a plan that specifically explains the role of people with disabilities in business ownership, employment, and consumers.
The Disability Inclusion Plan (DIP) sets out a clear and succinct action plan to navigate changes, which will improve disability inclusion specifically in BiH tourism, but will also impact the integration of persons with disabilities on a wider scale. The plan has been developed with the intent to change the experience of persons with a disability in tourism in BiH, with recommendations promoting participatory integration. Successful implementation of this plan requires collaboration among all stakeholders from governmental institutions to private sector partners and non-governmental organizations working in partnership to realize meaningful results.
To develop the situation and gap analysis and a plan for disability inclusion, research was conducted which included the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources. Qualitative data was used to support the analysis and subsequent conclusions drawn from quantitative data results. The organizational survey was completed by 52 persons from 38 organizations based throughout Republika Srpska (RS), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH), and Brčko District (BD), of which 29 are organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), seven institutions, and two sports clubs, while for the tourism sector survey, a total of 21 tourism companies were surveyed, including tourism agencies, hotels, private businesses, and catering facilities.
The awareness and understanding of disability will help improve the recognition of the skills and knowledge possessed by persons with disability and which are sought within the tourism industry and other adjacent sectors. Nurturing these abilities will bring value and status to the legal standing of persons of disability in terms of relevant state, entity, and local laws.
