Bed & Breakfasts in Italy: The case of the Emilia-Romagna Region

Bed & Breakfasts in the United Stated are, as we already mentioned, about 17.000, and it is important to specify that overseas they are called “inns”. The majority of them is located in villages, the 29% in rural areas, the 23% in urban areas, and the last 5% in suburban areas. A typical inn is characterized by 6 rooms, each with private bathroom, television, and high speed wireless Internet. Most of them also have a fireplace. Statistically speaking, 72% of inn owners are couples, 18% are women, 5% are men, and 5% are non-couple partnerships. Among them, the 79% lives on premises.

What emerges from an experience in an American Bed & Breakfast Inn is for sure the personal care of the owner, who treats customers just as friends. This is not a typical “American approach”, but rather it is closer to the old European spirit. Particular attention is usually given to the interior decoration both of the rooms and of the common areas. Breakfast can be either continental, including for example cornflakes, toasts, fruit, cakes, yogurt, and cereals, or full breakfast, in which case guests will find all the products listed above plus a hot plate. Industry-wide revenue in the US is more than $3 billion annually, according to the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, of which $1 billion is generated by the 3.000 structures that have paid employees on staff.