338 TOURISM LAW IN EUROPE confirmed trend of the ever-increasing growth in the latest non-hotel types entering the market: farmhouses, B&Bs and even tourist rentals. Analysing the trend on the side of hotel presences from 1990 to 2015, it is possible to note that there was an increase at an average annual rate of 2.2%, while in other types of structures, the increase rate was 8.7%4. In terms of beds, however, the differential between hotels and non-hotel facilities is reduced: hotels have 2.2 million beds (45.5%), while complementary ones have 2.7 million beds, with the largest share represented by campsites and tourist villages (50.4% of the complementary total)5. In order to assess the sector’s importance country-wide, the number of beds per 1,000 inhabitants was estimated, in 2017, to be 37 beds, approximately seven units higher than the European average (29.6 beds per 1,000 inhabitants)6. Data show that the evolution of demand has pushed towards a less traditional hotel tourism and more towards a new accommodation. 2. THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF HOSPITALITY IN ITALY The history of the Italian hotel accommodation system is characterised by constant expansion and rationalisation. Firms have grown in a generalised, differentiated and widespread way, increasing their size, starting from the beginning of the 20th century. A continuous improvement in the quality of the offer has been achieved, pursued through periods of adjustment, rationalisation, adaptation and provocation with respect to an ever-changing market. Although the Great Wars of the last century blocked the hotel business for only a few years, it then resumed its vigorous development7. For a long time, in Italy, the tourism sector was identified with hospitality. Offering accommodation for free or for remuneration purposes is an ancient activity, and the first laws on hospitality are almost as old8. The hotelier has 4 Ottavo rapporto sul sistema alberghiero e turistico (...), op. cit., re-elaboration on ISTAT database. 5 Il turismo in cifre (Tourism in figures), 2018, Osservatorio Nazionale del Turismo ONTIT (ed.), ISTAT 2016 Data. 6 Questioni di economia e finanza (...), op. cit., p. 8. 7 Ottavo rapporto sul sistema alberghiero e turistico (...), op. cit., p. 45. 8 The activity is mentioned in Royal Decree 18 June 1931, no. 773: Approval of the consolidated text of public safety laws, which provides for the transmission of data of accommodated customers, and, even earlier, in the Civil Code of 1865, with articles 1866, 1867 and 1868 establishing a responsibility of the hotelier and host for the goods that the traveler brought with him. For a historical reconstruction of hospitality phenomenon, see M. E. La Torre, I contratti di ospitalità (Hospitality contracts), in F. Delfini &
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