The hotel takes the utmost advantage of their strategic location and does not need to add more value to this part of their business. Proof of the successful location of the Copacabana Palace stand the great number of customers who stay there each year generating increased profits, and also the highly beneficial reviews the hotel has received along the year. One of these reviews writes:

The Copacabana Palace is superbly located: it faces the famous Copacabana Beach and yet is only minutes from the centre of Rio. The hotel is located eight miles from the domestic airport, Santos Dumont, and 20 miles from Rio de Janeiro's international airport, Tom Jobim. Within ten miles of the hotel are botanical gardens, downtown, Sugar Loaf Mountain, and Maracana Stadium."

6. Satisfaction Methodologies

Customer satisfaction if a key element of any conducted business. Subscribing to this belief, the Copacabana Palace desires to have an accurate measurement of the level of satisfaction registered by their clients. In order to achieve this, the hotel implements two sets of measurement:

First of all, they encourage all customers to address their desires and complaints to the hotel managers and the personnel. This identifies what needs were not satisfied and also allows the hotel to directly communicate with their clients and get first hand statements

Secondly, the Copacabana Palace asks their customers to fill in surveys that reflect the length to which the hotel was able to meet their demands. The surveys are not compulsory and the hotel management respectfully asks clients to fill them in. The surveys are implemented every now and then and they are carefully managed as to not bother clients

The two methods used are quite efficient, but they could be added more value. The means to add more value to measuring customer satisfaction are similar to the means used to identify customer demands. As such, the hotel management could discuss with local service providers in order to find out what the clients told them, or implement the Box-of-Donuts consulting. Also, they could research the web for any relevant information, including opinions from former customers, articles written about the hotel and they could even register on forums to directly discus with the target audience. Such a forum is Virtual Tourist, where users can read: "If you like to stay practically on the beach in style, I suppose this is the place! [...] the room was extremely small for the price. Everything else I saw of the hotel was first-class. The pool is very large and we enjoyed our meal (and wine!) in the restaurant right by the pool. Quite expensive though!"

7. Conclusions

The Copacabana Palace is the largest and most luxurious hotel in Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil. It is an international symbol of success and the force that drives it is represented by the management's intense desire to completely satisfy their customers' needs. Since it is a five star hotel, delivering the...

As such, the segment to which Copacabana addresses is formed of men and women who register above medium incomes and who are of ages between 25 and 55, and from companies that register high turnovers. The hotel mainly presents their offer through brochures and via the internet, with limited focus on television or radio channels.
The location of the Copacabana Palace was strategically chosen as it offers a spectacular view over the ocean and it has quick access to other touristy attractions, the center of Rio de Janeiro and the local and international airports. The means of identifying customers' expectations and the levels of customer satisfaction are similar and they include direct conversations with the clients and market researches. However most strategies adopted by Copacabana Palace guarantee successful outcomes, some work domains could be improved.

Bibliography

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2007, Introduction for Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro, Yahoo Travel

2007, Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide, Virtual Tourist