Earlier this year Italy said goodbye to its champion of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini. This week it has said another farewell to a champion of Slow Tourism. Daniele Kihlgren was an entrepreneur who became internationally recognised for restoring abandoned historic villages and breathing new life back into the buildings and community.

The Albergo Diffuso is a relatively recent concept in Italy based around the idea of restoring old houses and buildings for the purposes of tourism. The phrase translates literally as "scattered hotel". This hospitality model was developed by tourism marketing...