Albergo Diffuso: An Alternative Form of Hospitality Essay -- Tourism

The defining features of the albergo diffuso. â€Å"Like a holiday apartment, an albergo diffuso allows travellers to join in village life, but the bonus is that it offers the basic services of a hotel† (Williams, 2010). In order to gain a full comprehension of the new concept, some of the salient features of this phenomenon must first be discussed. To be able to earn its name, an albergo diffuso hotel is required to meet several criteria. First, the initiative should come from within the community and a hotel must use existing buildings and local workforce. Second, the minimum number of rooms required is seven; they all should be located within 200 meters from each other. Third, the area must have some minimum services offered, such as a restaurant, a grocery store, a pharmacy. Last, local residents should be part of the experience: it's their open and welcoming attitude that makes a guest's stay memorable (Dichter). In addition, an albergo diffuso hotel must retain unique local touch to differentiate itself from uniform accommodations. Dall'Ara insisted on recovering the origins of a local culture and preserving a strong sense of place. Being a part of the historic centre, abandoned buildings gain new life and naturally stand out from traditional and boring style of cookie cutter structures (Fortney-Schneider, 2011). For example, the countryside in the Marche region offers the traditional Italian village lodging, while the town of Matera features unique grottoes-type hotel rooms with atmosphere of a typical twentieth century cave dwelling. The renovations in each village carefully preserved detailed period decor to ensure the guests have a truly authentic experience and enjoy the sense of ease and tranquility of the bygone times (... ...â€Å"Saving Towns by Filling Rooms† by Gizela Williams that appeared in the May 2010 issue of The New York Times (New York Edition). A featured article from blog community insidersabroad.com. Valerie Fortney-Schneider More Than a Mere Hotel: Albergo Diffuso is a Welcome Alternative October 2011 the brochure The innovation â€Å"Albergo Diffuso Developing Tourism Through Innovation and Tradition†. IDEASS Italy www.ideassonline.org by Giordano Dichter a research paper â€Å"Albergo diffuso† concept as a new offer in rural area. Pavlo Ruzic, Marinela Dropulic. Institute of Agriculture and Tourism, Porec a case study â€Å"A typical Italian phenomenon: The â€Å"albergo diffuso† Marco Confalonieri, Inoversita Cattolica del Sacro 2010 Tourism Management database a January 2012 article by Amà ©lie Racine titled â€Å"Albergo Diffuso: An alternative form of hospitality† from tourismintelligencego.