Hotel Daljan is a hospitality facility on the shores of Lake Ohrid that belongs to the National Association of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It is a resort for people with all kinds of disabilities, which also employs people with disabilities. Since half of the employees are deaf or hard of hearing, all employees use sign language. This example of social innovation is interesting not only as an original concept but also due to the innovative way of communicating within the hotel where, in addition to sign language, light signals also contribute to efficient functioning.
It takes much more than setting up a ramps to create an environment suitable to people with disabilities
“Hotel Daljan has been working in this way for 15 years already. The idea was to employ people with disabilities on one hand, and on the other hand to offer a pleasant holiday atmosphere where people with disabilities will forget about their disability, and will feel like every other person when on vacation. We are very proud of what has been achieved. It takes a lot of work, dedication, energy and a lot of love to truly understand the world of silence. Because if you don’t understand that world, you can’t even work with people who have this disability, nor create a real leisure environment. It takes much more than setting up a ramp for wheelchairs to create an environment suitable to people with disabilities. We try to make people with all kinds of disabilities comfortable in our resort. Therefore, we are happy that Hotel Daljan is really very busy place, we have people who have come on holiday with their families, we organize fishing competitions, different events…” – says Slavica Stefanoska, manager of Hotel Daljan and secretary of the Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Everyone may stay in Hotel Daljan, not only persons with disabilities – here kindness and warmth are complemented by the greenery and the beauty of Lake Ohrid.
