NH Hotel Group seeks to create a positive impact on the communities where it is present through key responsible alliances, solidarity projects
and sponsorship.

The commitment to the communities where the Company operates is one of the pillars of the new Corporate Responsibility Strategic plan 2017-2019. The main goal is to maintain active relations with the community, contributing to local development and attending to the needs of each destination where it is present through the business itself. Local impact is achieved thanks to the creation of responsible alliances with foundations and NGOs, the collaboration of employee volunteers in projects and the promotion of culture.

NH Hotel Group believes in building responsible and successful alliances with solidarity partners, with the aim of developing stable projects that can be replicated in all Business Units. To that end, the Company defines three lines of global action: Hotels with a Heart, Employability Programs and NH Volunteers!

Friend rate and employee rate – collecting 2€ and 1€ respectively of the costs of bookings made with the special rate for employees, family and friends and then using these funds in accommodation and restaurant services, special rates and scholarships in the Social Action programs of the different Business Units.

NGO rate – application of a 30% discount on the best available rate for entities that have been previously assessed and approved by the Corporate Responsibility department

Impact of NH Hotel Group’s activity on employment and local population: employability programs

Throughout 2018 NH Hotel Group has carried out different international training and work experience programs for young people at risk of exclusion and for disabled individuals at hotels in all its Business Units. In this way, the projects, which are part of the Social Action strategy, are also aligned with the Company’s commitment to SDG 8, “Decent work and economic growth”. Thus, in 2018, a total of 113 students had the opportunity to develop technical and personal skills with the direct help of hotel employee volunteers who accompanied, guided and mentored the young people. To multiply the impact of these employability programs, the Company consolidates its international and local alliances that provide the necessary support and responses to the specific needs of each Business Unit.

America Business Unit: Youth Career Initiative

Youth Career Initiative (YCI) is a high-impact international initiative to fight youth unemployment. With the alliance developed with YCI in the America Business Unit, NH Hotel Group is the only Spanish multinational company committed to this innovative project, together with other leading hospitality companies, such as Intercontinental, Marriott and Starwood.

Every year, more than 400 young people at risk of social exclusion receive training in 53 hotels around the world. In its eleventh year, the eighth in which NH Hotel Group has taken part, 19 young people have received classes over six months given by staff of the different hotel areas as well as work experience in the different departments. As of today, 9 of the participants have now embarked upon their careers as collaborators of NH Hotel Group Mexico. In the first few months of 2019 the programme is expected to start in Bogotá.

Social and Labor Insertion in Spain

Youth unemployment in Spain, which is more significant in groups at risk of social exclusion, requires programs focused on boosting the employability and social integration of young people. Accordingly, more than 20 NH hotels in Spain have been involved in different programs with the help of almost 100 employees who have volunteered more than eight thousand hours to train almost 80 young people.

Benelux: JINC “Track the Talent”

Since 2009, NH Hotel Group and JINC have been collaborating to provide professional training to young people in the poorer districts to help improve their employability. In 2018, a number of visits and workshops have been organized to the NH Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst with the participation of a total of 69 young people with whom 10 employee volunteers have wanted to share their enthusiasm and experience in the hotel sector.

Commitment to communities

Hotels with a Heart

This initiative, which has been in place for more than 15 years, aims to help the families of children in hospitals to cover their accommodation needs through foundations and NGOs. The continuity and development year after year is a sign of NH Hotel Group’s long-term commitment to the Community. “Hotels with a Heart” came into being as a result of the alliance between the hotel NH Madrid Sur and the Fundación Menudos Corazones in 2004. To date, with more than 15,000 nights donated, the initiative has received numerous awards.

Furthermore, a strategic agreement has been signed in Europe with Make-A-Wish International, through which NH Hotel Group pledges to provide 600 rooms a year in hotels in more than 15 European cities to children who suffer from serious illnesses and their families so that they can travel from their home town in order to make the children’s wishes come true. In 2018, 109 hotel rooms were donated with a value of €19,143.

The collaboration between the two entities started in 2005 in Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, offering every facility so that children from all over the world with serious illnesses could make their wish come true.

The group of all the volunteers who act as Ambassadors for the program are a key to the success of “Hotels with a Heart”.

In Benelux and Germany, the Company collaborates with hospitals and foundations such as the Ronald McDonald Foundation, with which it also participates in programs focused on the wellbeing of familes with sick children, providing them with a home when the foundation’s houses are full.

NH Volunteers!

With the aim of promoting employee involvement in NH Hotel Group’s Social action, NH Volunteers! was created. The initiative is already an important facet of the Company which has become consolidated thanks to the commitment shown by its employees in the volunteering projects where they offer their skills and knowledge to people who need them.

In 2018, NH Hotel Group employee volunteers have taken part in training and apprenticeship programmes for vulnerable groups. Furthermore, in the same year, two editions of the Coach Project also took place at the Corporate offices in conjunction with the Exit Foundation. This is a corporate volunteering initiative to improve the employability of young people at risk of social exclusion through coaching and mentoring. In this way, several employee volunteers have shown young people how the business world operates, with the aim of helping them to discover their vocation and thus motivate them to continue their training.

During 2018, almost 250 employees collaborated with more than 40 organizations in volunteering programs.

Donation of furniture from refurbished hotels

As part of the repositioning plan and the refurbishment projects for the Company’s hotels a coordination protocol is followed for donating withdrawn furniture and fixtures to foundations and NGOs, social organizations and destitute persons. Accordingly, in 2018, each Business Unit has donated mattresses, duvets, blankets, toys, cleaning articles, sheets, towels, pillows and bedsteads, among other products. Thus, for example, due to a change in location of the Head Offices in Bogotá, part of the furniture has been donated to Fundación Amiguitos de Royal.

Dialogue with local communities: responsible alliances

NH Hotel Group holds a constant and fluid dialogue with its stakeholders, through multiple channels and formats, with the aim of keeing the Company up-to-date about new demands and needs, as well as of responding better to stakeholders’ concerns and opinions. In recent years, social media has become an essecial medium for relations with customers and society. Furthermore, for NH Hotel Group there are other notable channels that ensure stable relations with its stakeholders, such as customer and employee satisfaction surveys or regular meetings with other stakeholders such as shareholders, suppliers, employee representatives and third sector agents.

The total amount that NH Hotel Group has paid in respect of these alliances in 2018 is 60,725 euros.