Borgomaro and the Albergo Diffuso: When Tourism Saves Small Villages

In an Italy where many small villages risk abandonment, there’s a different story that deserves to be told. It’s the story of Borgomaro, three hundred inhabitants in the Impero Valley, and how a scattered hotel can become much more than a simple accommodation facility: a true social stronghold that restores life and future to a territory.

The silent drama of Italian villages

Italy holds a unique heritage in the world: thousands of small villages that dot the territory like precious pearls, each with its own history, traditions, and identity. Yet many of these places are experiencing a silent drama. Depopulation, lack of job opportunities, and an aging population are emptying historic centers that have endured for centuries.

Borgomaro could have been one of these. A small town in Western Liguria, nestled in the Maro Valley, where the stream that gives it its name meets the Trexenda to give life to the Impero river. Three hundred inhabitants in the entire municipality, historic houses that risked remaining empty, traditions that ran the danger of being lost with the passing of generations.

Rebirth through authentic hospitality

Borgomaro’s story has taken a different direction thanks to an innovative vision: that of the scattered hotel. Not a structure that imposes itself on the territory, but a hospitality model that integrates completely into the social and economic fabric of the village, becoming part of its daily life.

The Relais del Maro was born from this very philosophy: recovering historic buildings, enhancing existing architectural heritage, creating job opportunities for residents, attracting visitors who are not simple passing tourists but people interested in truly knowing the authenticity of these places.

Three historic buildings have been recovered and transformed into elegant rooms, maintaining their original charm intact. The Casa Madre, an early nineteenth-century palace, the Casa del Borgo in the heart of the historic center, the Casa del Fienile with its characteristic vaulted ceilings. Every intervention has respected the history of the place, every renovation has enhanced the existing instead of disrupting.

An ecosystem that generates value

The scattered hotel works when it manages to create a true ecosystem. At the Relais del Maro, this means collaborating closely with all local realities. The morning breakfast tells the story of the territory through products: freshly baked Ligurian focaccia, pizza from “Zia Bruna” who has become a local celebrity, cheeses from Agrilocanda Cor-nus, artisanal cured meats from Salumeria Giacobbe.

Every product served to guests generates a small economic impact for the territory. Local producers find a secure sales channel, guests discover authentic flavors they would never find in city supermarkets, the village keeps its production traditions alive. It’s a virtuous circle that creates economic, social, and cultural value.

Work returns to the village

One of the most important consequences of the scattered hotel’s presence is the creation of job opportunities. The Relais del Maro employs local staff, predominantly female, who can work in their own territory without being forced to emigrate to cities. From reception to kitchen, from cleaning to maintenance, every service generates local employment.

But it’s not just about direct work. The hotel also stimulates indirect activities: local producers see increased demand for their products, village restaurants welcome guests from the facility, local guides find opportunities to showcase the territory. A network of economic relationships is created that revitalizes the entire social fabric.

Preservation of cultural identity

One of the most precious aspects of the scattered hotel is its ability to preserve and enhance the village’s cultural identity. Guests at the Relais del Maro are not isolated in a self-sufficient structure, but are invited to participate in village life, to meet its inhabitants, to discover its traditions.

During the five o’clock tea, a convivial moment that the hotel has borrowed from British tradition and adapted to the Ligurian village, opportunities for meetings between guests and residents are created. Walks to reach the hotel’s different houses become opportunities to discover hidden corners, to hear stories passed down through generations, to understand the authentic soul of Borgomaro.

A sustainable and replicable model

The success of the Relais del Maro demonstrates that there is a sustainable alternative to mass tourism. Instead of building large impactful structures, instead of standardizing the offer, instead of transforming places into theme parks, the scattered hotel proposes a slower, more respectful, more authentic tourism.

Membership in EcoWorldHotel and Green Pearls® Unique Places testifies to the concrete commitment to environmental sustainability. Solar panels, eco-compatible technologies, waste reduction, enhancement of local products: every choice is oriented towards tourism that respects the environment and the host community.

The future of villages passes through conscious tourism

The story of Borgomaro and the Relais del Maro represents a model that could be replicated in hundreds of small Italian villages. It’s not about transforming these places into open-air museums, but about finding the right balance between preserving identity and opening to the outside, between tradition and innovation, between economic sustainability and environmental respect.

Small villages like Borgomaro preserve an invaluable heritage made of history, culture, traditions, landscapes, and flavors. The scattered hotel can be the tool to enhance this heritage, to create sustainable economic opportunities, to guarantee a future for communities that otherwise risk disappearing.

When you stay at the Relais del Maro, you’re not simply booking a vacation. You’re participating in a broader project: that of demonstrating that another development model is possible, that tourism can be a resource for the territory instead of a problem, that small villages can have a bright future if they know how to reinvent themselves without losing their soul.