Chapter 17: Can the New Hospitality Model of Albergo Diffuso Solve the Overtourism Issue? The Case of Tuscany

In recent decades, tourism has continuously expanded and diversified to become one of the most important economic sectors globally (Croce, 2018). The development of tourism is linked to more accessible mobility thanks to technological developments and changes in the world of transport, especially air transport and high-speed rail.

According to World Bank estimates, annual international tourism expenditures worldwide rose from US$ 484,838 billion in 1997 to US$ 950,154 billion in 2007 and then to US$ 1,449 trillion in 2017. These sums are the amounts spent by international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. They may include the expenditures of residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification (World Bank, 2019a). In the same period, the estimated international arrivals were 584 million in 1997, 920 million in 2007, and 1,341 billion in 2017 (World Bank, 2019b). These sums represent the number of inbound tourists (overnight visitors) who travel to a country other than that of their usual residence for a period not exceeding 12 months and not with the main purpose of performing an activity remunerated within that country (World Tourism Organization, 2018a, 2018b).