Albergo diffuso e sostenibilità turistica

The present essay analyses the accommodation structure called “albergo diffuso” [widespread hotel], introduced for the first time twenty years ago by a Sardinian regional law and then governed by the other Regions. The diffusion of the widespread hotel can have positive effects for the small villages (more and more affected by demographic desertification and loss of essential services), so much so that the recent law so-called “salva-borghi” [save-villages] has identified it as a tool for the revitalization of the same. Vice versa, the spread of the same in large cities (affected by over-tourism) could distort the philosophy, linked to a sustainable tourism and respectful of the place visited. Finally, the essay examines the various regional legislations that show numerous differences about the criteria for the realization of the widespread hotel (from the location to the distance between the mother-house and the individual satellite units). If it is true that the regionalization of the discipline can calibrate the phenomenon in the light of regional specificities, it can create problems for the entrepreneur who intends to start this activity and generate confusion in the potential user of the service.