Albergo Diffuso: voice of customers' analysis in italian tourism sector

This study introduces an innovative model of sustainable hospitality called Albergo Diffuso. It is an Italian concept of hospitality that aims to exploit tangible and intangible local resources, oriented to the revitalization and recovery of an existing heritage. There is still a gap in the literature on tourism innovation and in particularly on Albergo Diffuso approach. With our study we attempt to fill some gaps, analyzing how the tourist perceives the services of the AD. This research addresses to the identification of the level of customer satisfaction related to the services provided by two different ADs located respectively in North and Centre-South Italy. The main aim of this study is to understand the polarity (positive or negative) of these services in order to discover which of them represent the quality excellence of this innovative and sustainable form of hospitality. A multiple case study methodology based on a manual opinion mining analysis has been implemented in this work. The concept of Albergo Diffuso and the atmosphere of the village seem to be the main strengths of this new innovative business regardless the geographical localization. Finally, customers who have reserved a room/apartment in Centre-South are more satisfied than North Italy.