In short. Caro Collega is not a social-media, web or digital-marketing agency: it is a growth partner. For a hotel we don’t sell a website, campaigns or posts — we sell one goal: growing the property, measured on direct bookings, RevPAR and revenue, not followers. The same logic drives our pillar guide to restaurant marketing in Italy — and it works well beyond Italy’s borders.

What growth marketing means (and what it isn’t)

Growth marketing is a way of working aimed at a single outcome: growing your property in a measurable way. It is not an isolated tactic — “let’s do social”, “let’s redo the website”, “let’s launch ads” — but the direction that picks and combines the right levers for your hotel and measures them, month after month, on the numbers that matter.

The difference is subtle but decisive. A traditional agency hands you a deliverable: a website published, a campaign launched, a calendar of posts. A growth partner takes responsibility for the result — more direct bookings, higher occupancy, more revenue per room. The website, the ads and the socials remain tools: they are never the goal.

Not a social agency, not a web agency: a growth partner

We say it clearly, because it is the heart of how we work: we are not a social-media management agency, nor a web or digital agency. Our job is not to put a website online, launch an ad or fill an Instagram feed. Our job is to grow your hotel. That changes everything: which levers we activate, in what order, with what budget — and above all, how we measure whether it is working. First the numbers and the goals, then the tools.

The right metrics: direct bookings and RevPAR, not followers

Followers don’t pay your suppliers; views don’t fill rooms in low season. Those are vanity metrics: they feel good, but they don’t tell you whether the property is growing. We look at something else:

  • Direct bookings — reservations from your own website, with no OTA commission attached;
  • Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR — the numbers a hotel is actually measured on;
  • Direct-channel share versus Booking, Expedia and the other portals;
  • Attributable extra revenue and return on investment — not the number of likes.

Everything we do must map to one of these numbers. If an action doesn’t move direct bookings or revenue, it isn’t worth doing.

Built by someone who ran hotels and restaurants

Growth marketing, by itself, is a method. It becomes effective when it meets someone who genuinely knows the trade. Caro Collega was founded on the 20+ years Giancarlo De Leonardo spent running hotels and restaurants: seasonality, occupancy, dynamic rates, staff costs, and the dependence on OTAs and their commissions. We speak as former colleagues, not as an agency that read a manual — we know where to look because we have stood behind the front desk.

Tailored levers, not standard packages

Every hotel needs different levers, activated in the right order: SEO and local SEO to be found, an optimised Google Business Profile for local search, Google Ads to capture existing demand, a website that converts with a direct booking engine so the OTAs don’t take the margin, and — where there is an in-house restaurant — the dining platforms such as The Fork or OpenTable. We choose and combine them based on your numbers and your goals. Growth marketing is not “doing more things”: it is doing the right things, in the right order, and keeping only the ones that move direct bookings and revenue.

Does it travel? Rome, Ibiza — and your market

The Method was born in Italy, one of the most competitive hospitality markets in the world — but it is not tied to it. When Micalusi, a Roman restaurant brand we have worked with since 2017, expanded to Ibiza in 2024, Caro Collega managed the marketing of the new venue across the border. And today our AI-agent stack does the local homework wherever your property is: market and competitor research, search analysis, ad campaigns and local SEO in your guests’ languages — from English and German to French and Greek. If your hotel or resort is outside Italy, start from what we do for hotels and resorts.

Who it works for: the ideal property

We are honest about one thing: we are not the answer for everyone. We do our best work when there is already something solid to build on: a product guests appreciate — hospitality and an experience already recognised in the reviews; a track record and a clear market niche (business, leisure, a specific destination); and the genuine will to grow and shift share to the direct channel, not just to “be online”. On a property like that, our job is to turn on the spotlights: turning quality into direct bookings and measurable extra revenue. If the product or the market isn’t there yet, we tell you — that comes first.

How we start

We start with a free analysis of your property, your market and your numbers — occupancy, rates, channel mix. From there we define the targets together and tell you honestly whether we believe we can move the needle. If we don’t, we say no: our clients pay a monthly fee for years, and that only works when the results are real.

Our promise. Caro Collega pairs hands-on hospitality experience with AI: Giancarlo De Leonardo is a former restaurateur and hotelier, and President of the Innovation Bridge Foundation, dedicated to technological innovation and AI. This site itself is built to be read by AI agents — and we bring the same standard to our clients’ venues.
Want to talk it through with Giancarlo? Book a free call →

In short

If you take one thing from this guide: buy outcomes, not deliverables. Define the numbers that matter for your property — direct bookings, occupancy, ADR, RevPAR — pick a partner who takes responsibility for them, and activate the levers in the right order: being found first, converting directly second, retaining your guests third. To see how the same logic applies to restaurants, read our pillar guide to restaurant marketing in Italy; for the AI side, see how hotels can use AI to increase direct bookings. And if you want to talk numbers, the free call is where we start.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between growth marketing and a social-media agency?

A social agency manages your profiles and produces content; its product is posts, followers and views. Growth marketing uses social as one lever among many, but aims at a different result — direct bookings and revenue — and chooses which tools to activate based on your hotel’s numbers.

Which numbers do you measure for a hotel?

Direct bookings, occupancy, ADR and RevPAR, the share of the direct channel versus the OTAs, and the extra revenue directly attributable to the actions we implement. Not followers or views, which don’t pay suppliers.

Do you help reduce dependence on Booking and Expedia?

Yes: shifting share from the OTAs to the direct channel is one of the typical goals. We work on the website, the booking engine, local visibility and guest retention so that a larger share of room nights arrives commission-free — without giving up the visibility of the portals.

Do you only work with hotels in Italy?

No. The Method was born in Italy, but it travels: when Micalusi, a Roman restaurant brand we have supported since 2017, expanded to Ibiza in 2024, we managed the marketing of the new venue. Our AI-agent stack runs research, campaigns and local SEO in your guests’ languages, wherever your property is.

How do we start?

With a free analysis of your property, your market and your numbers. We define the targets together and tell you honestly whether we believe we can grow your hotel — and if we don’t, we say so on the first call.