The Role of Events in the Success of Luxury Hotels: The Case of the Savoy Palace Madeira

In recent years, tourism in general and hotels in particular have seen increasing levels of demand, making them extremely competitive sectors of the economy. Organizing events is now one of the ways that hotels have found to differentiate themselves in the market, to attract a growing number of customers, and to publicize and enhance their infrastructures and services and thus achieve recognition in the national and international markets. In this work, we seek to reflect on the importance of events in boosting luxury hotels, using the Savoy Palace Madeira as a case study. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to analyze which types of events are best suited to this type of hotel; (2) to understand which events are not popular in luxury hotels; and (3) to assess whether events in these hotels are an instrument for greater recognition of the services provided and, consequently, for increasing accommodation. The methodology is based on a detailed review of the literature on the importance of events in hotels and uses a qualitative analysis based on interviews with the Savoy Palace’s eight middle managers. The main conclusion of this study is that although all events are relevant to the success of this hotel, those involving accommodation and international visibility, such as congresses, are the most attractive for luxury hotels.