Sustainability and innovation in tourism services: the Albergo Diffuso case study

This paper contributes to analyses of sustainable tourism business with focus on an innovative and attractive form of sustainable tourism for both present and future generations. It is a made in Italy new model of sustainable development, which aims at the exploitation of local resources both tangible and intangible, called Albergo Diffuso. It promotes heritage and is oriented to the recovery of a locality's cultural identity and to the revival of traditional events. We use a multi case study, because we believe it offers the appropriate methodology when investigating a complex multi-variable phenomenon that evolves over time. We chose from the sample two ADs, each representing a significant example of success in order to recognize the critical success factors of the Albergo Diffuso model.