Planning a corporate event in Portugal: your questions answered

Company offsites and leadership retreats; conferences, AGMs, investor days and summits; team building; gala dinners and awards ceremonies; incentive trips and client hospitality; and product launches.

In Lisbon, Porto, Cascais, Sintra, Comporta, the Alentejo and Arrábida.

We plan offsites for teams of under ten to 250+ people, conferences from AGMs and investor days to 1,000+ delegates, and gala dinners and awards nights for 40 to 400+ guests.

A DMC (destination management company) is a local partner that plans and runs events for companies coming from elsewhere. You can book a hotel remotely, but a local partner visits venues, contracts and manages Portuguese suppliers, handles deposits, and is there to solve problems on the day.

Running an event in another country takes local knowledge. LUME has spent years building long-term relationships with trusted suppliers, from venues and caterers to transport and AV. Those relationships often mean preferential rates, better availability in the busiest months and quick answers when plans change. You deal with one team, and we take care of the details so you can concentrate on the bigger goals.

Yes. Most of our clients are international companies, and they usually have no events team of their own. We act as their team on the ground.

Usually 4 to 6 months for offsites, conferences and incentive trips, and 2 to 3 months for team building and gala dinners. Book earlier for May, June, September and October, when the best venues go fast. Larger conferences need more notice, often up to a year. Product launches typically need 4 to 6 months too.

We reply to new enquiries and briefs within one business day. Within 7 working days of your brief, you’ll have a customised proposal with a venue shortlist, availability and costs. Once we’re working together, you get prompt replies and clear updates at every stage.

It depends on what you’re after. The cost is shaped by your group size, dates, format, the level of venue and the extras you choose, so we don’t publish set prices. Every proposal shows what each part costs. See how pricing works here.

The whole event can be billed on one consolidated invoice in euros, covering all suppliers, with flexibility to suit your company.

Marcella Forster, Founder & Director, or a senior producer, for the whole event, with staff scaled to your group size.

English and Portuguese.

A venue shortlist, site visits, local contracting and deposits, meeting-room set-up and AV, help sourcing facilitators, group dining, transfers and coaches, an activity programme, an on-site producer and one consolidated invoice.

Yes. We help you source facilitators for your sessions. We’re well connected internationally.

Regattas, speedboat circuits, tuk-tuk and city challenges, sunset catamaran sails, boat trips, surf, paddleboarding and kayaking, coastal hikes, e-bike tours, Jeep safaris, beach days, golf, padel, yoga, wine tastings, team dynamics, and cooking, pastéis de nata and ceramics workshops. See the team building page.

We work with the most experienced, trusted local suppliers and choose venues to suit your brief, from historic palaces and riverside venues to rooftops, wine estates and country houses. We share recommendations with clients directly rather than publishing them.

Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 Lisbon time.

Clients include Butternut Box, White Star Capital, HH Global, L’Oréal Luxe, YPO, Lightrock, YFM Equity Partners, TikTok and Contentful.

Yes. We organise strategic and executive leadership offsites as well as whole-company events. Recent examples include an offsite in Cascais for Butternut Box’s senior leadership team of 20, and a retreat in Sesimbra and Lisbon for a YPO forum of nine.

Yes. We organise conferences, AGMs, investor days and summits, for anything from a small board meeting to 1,000+ delegates.

It’s built around your agenda, but many follow a proven rhythm: a wellness activity or a padel session early in the morning, strategy sessions in the morning, activities in the afternoon and dinner together in the evening.

Yes. White Star Capital’s offsite was based in Lisbon with activities in Cascais, and a YPO forum retreat combined a day in Sesimbra with sessions and dinners in Lisbon. We plan the transport between them.

Yes. We find the venue, contract rooms and meeting space, and arrange transfers, coaches and transport between venues.

Send us your brief: dates, group size, the kind of event and what you want it to achieve. We reply within one business day, and within 7 working days you have a customised proposal with a venue shortlist, availability and costs.

Yes. We have extensive experience organising events in places such as Brussels, London, Dubai, Las Vegas and Barcelona, and international clients who have worked with us in Portugal often ask us to run their events elsewhere too.