Specialised training for summer workers to provide accessible and reliable services to customers with disabilities and disadvantages in HORECA sector Erasmus Project

Project Title

Specialised training for summer workers to provide accessible and reliable services to customers with disabilities and disadvantages in HORECA sector

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; Access for disadvantaged; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

The HORECACCESS project was successfully realised in the period November 2018 – February 2021. The main purpose of the project was to address the needs of people with disabilities and those with disadvantages to use the HORECA sector services. Among disadvantaged people we have also others, who face (temporary) difficulties in their everyday activities as a consequence of the inadequacies of their environment (physical and attitudinal). These target groups frequently meet barriers, when they are using HORECA services, which can be physical, perceptual and social in a tourist’s environment. In many places around the world and in the partners’ countries, such barriers limit the functioning of those people and create disability through their absence or presence. These includes an inaccessible physical environment, negative attitudes of people towards disability, as well as services, systems and policies that are either non-existent or that hinder the involvement of all people in all areas of life.

In Bulgaria, Belgium, Turkey, Greece and Serbia the summer period involves many youth workers (aged between 15-29), who are seeking for a part-time or full-time job during the vacation period. The employers are eager to employ them, because they are without official qualification and could pay less amount for a salary. However, major part of these youth are eager to seek for a job during the summer period, because in the majority of cases they are working at resorts (i.e. at sea or spring waters), where they could receive considerable amount from tips from one side and to be more independent from their parents in terms of financial resources. In the most cases those youths did not participated in any preliminary in-house trainings at the HORECA entities due to lack of time and lack of resources for training staff at those micro enterprises. Therefore, they should learn how to provide services by their senior colleagues or a team leader on the job. Major part of youth population did not have any clue about how to provided accessible and reliable services to clients with disabilities. In the most cases they are afraid to serve them because they have zero awareness towards disabilities, the barriers that might be experienced by clients with disabilities while using HORECA services and possible solutions/strategies that could support overcoming of those barriers.

With this project we have provided a non-formal vocational training via dedicated Android and iOS mobile applications (free of charge), which from one side are connected to a training portal, where youth who are current employees or seeking for a job in the HORECA sector can receive 24/7 information, guidance and strategies for servicing in accessible and appropriate way/manner clients with different types of disabilities. For that purpose we have created also a disability understanding guide for youth supported by structured guidelines on provision of accessible and reliable services to clients with disabilities as well as a handbook for in-house youth workers on conducting supervision of the non-formal learning process with youth employees. During the period Dec 2019 – Dec 2020 more than 180 youth and more than 60 in-house and vocational trainers were involved in series of trainings. At the end of the project, after series of online and virtual training activities, we have evidences for improved negotiation and mediation skills during communication with clients with disabilities by youth summer workers as well as improved social, civic and interpersonal competences related to the social inclusion of disadvantaged members of the community. These youth are more open-minded towards new initiatives and ways to support the social inclusion of disadvantaged clients. We have raised the knowledge of young VET learners and young summer workers about the barriers that different types of disadvantaged customers may face (people with disabilities, pregnant woman, older people, customers with injuries) while entering and using HORECA services. Furthermore, youth workers, youth trainers, in-house trainers provided their feedback in order to ensure proper improvement process of the intellectual outputs.

With above mentioned outputs, we have increased the social participation within the framework of accessible tourism, which contributed to the reduction of marginalization and discrimination in the society in partners’ countries. All arrangements towards provision of accessible and reliable services improved the quality of life of disadvantaged people, who took benefits from the tourism activities in a more relaxed way especially during COVID-19 summer of 2020.

The developed outputs have a transferability potential to be used by HEI and Adult training professionals in the area of the topic of the training. All language versions are available on project website, e-learning platform and the two mobile apps – for Android and for iOS smart devices.

Project Website

https://www.horecaccess.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 175576,44 Eur

Project Coordinator

SOFIA UNIVERSITY ST KLIMENT OHRIDSKI & Country: BG

Project Partners

• Horeca Partners
• Orta Avrupa Egitim Danismanlik Tercume ve Kocluk Hizmetleri Limited Sirketi
• EKOLOGIJAKM OOD
• BEOGRADSKA OTVORENA SKOLA
• EUFORA PERIVALONTIKI CHIOU MELETONKAI IPIRESION MONOPROSOPI ETERIA IDIOTIKI KEFALEOUXIKIS ETERIAS