Are ‘Albergo Diffuso’ and community-based tourism the answers to community development in South Africa?

Figures & data

Table 1. Comparison between forms of hospitality.

Point of comparison	Traditional hotel	Private rental home	Albergo Diffuso
Building’s original vocation	Designed for tourists	Designed for residents	Designed for residents
Private spaces	Room and bathroom	Fully private space	Fully private space
Number of buildings	Usually one	Usually one	Two or more
Services offered	Reception, housekeeping, restaurants (and more, depending on the hotel)	Reception upon arrival	Reception. housekeeping, restaurants, etc.
Owner	One owner or company	Usually one owner	One or more owners
Legal status	Various types	Private property	Various types but usually a cooperative
Offer being marketed	Hotel products and service	Rental property	Albergo Diffuso and the village or region as a whole
Desired results	Profitability	Profitability	Profitability, local and environmental involvement
Contact with residents	Limited to hotel personnel	Direct	Direct

Source: Racine (2012); see also Dropulić et al. (2008:609) for a similar comparison.

Table 2. General outline of CBT and AD venture models.

Tourism form	Model
	1	2	3
CBT	A single, community-owned structure such as a community lodge. The CBT entity is owned and managed by community members.	Multiple micro and small enterprises under a common organisational umbrella. The CBT entity is owned and managed by community members.	Joint venture/partnership between the community or some of its members and business partner(s).
AD	In the first case an investor purchases or rents the apartments and/or the houses and becomes the manager of what effectively is a ‘hotel which cannot be seen’.	A group of local actors creates a consortium and delegates to a private subject (e.g. a cooperative) the management of the structure.	Characterised by a trend towards the aggregation of smaller accommodation realities to exploit the advantages of a large company.

Source: Häusler & Strasdas (2003:5), Confalonieri (2011:686), Mtapuri & Giampiccoli (2013) and Dichter & Dall'Ara (n.d.:6).

Figure 1. Difference between an ordinary hotel and AD.

Source: GDA (n.d.).

Figure 2. CBT multiple micro and small enterprises model.

Source: Mtapuri & Giampiccoli (2013:8).

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