guest’s experience by digitalising all the phases of check-in and check-out processes. These processes have been redefined with a clear focus on improving these touchpoints, at both operational and experience level.

This project lets guests complete the check-in and check-out processes using a tablet connected to our PMS, which:

– Facilitates the review of their booking information, contact or billing information, without the need to print paper, and correcting any errors at the same time.
– Offers the possibility of updating the GDPR policy and NH Rewards on the tablet.
– Enables signing of the registration and police (if applicable) documents using this device (digital signature).
– Digitalises the check-in and check-out processes.
With Tablets in Reception, we achieve the following goals:
– Improving the guest experience.
– Paperless processes.
– Improving the quality of our CRM and improving NH Rewards capture.
– Digitalising the customer data storage process (GDPR/Police).
– Improving the efficiency of these processes.

A preliminary implementation of the project has been carried out in 2021 in order to detect and implement improvements in the process. After that, a rollout phase has been defined for 2022 which will allow us to advance in the consolidation of the defined goals, as well as continuing to improve the usability of the project. A pilot programme to give this feature mobility has also been planned, that will let the check-in and check-out processes be carried out in different parts of the hotel.

EVOLUTION OF QUALITY MEASUREMENT TOOLS IN 2021

An essential part of the customer experience continuous improvement process is monitoring perceived quality and the action plans that have been put in place. A significant example of a measurement tool is Quality Focus Online, which makes it possible to monitor customer reviews through internal and online channels.

The main improvements in the tool in 2021 include internal improvements in usability, improving the content of some of the tabs to help view at the same time global NPS (Net Promoter Score) data and competition data of all the hotels. In addition, aware of the importance that Google is gaining in recent years, the option of responding to the Questions and Answers section directly from the tool has been included, which allows us to respond to all customers and improve our presence in Google maps.

Furthermore, to maintain the Company’s high standards in relation to quality and customer satisfaction and maintain maximum assurance of safety for guests and employees, this year the checklist created on 2020 has continued to be used, through which the Health & Safety Managers, designated in the Feel Safe plan to be responsible for verifying and managing the plan in each hotel in each Business Unit of NH Hotel Group, carry out the corresponding checks in each establishment and identify areas for improvement, in order to implement the necessary corrective actions.

To carry out these controls, as well as the customer experience quality visits that local quality teams have resumed this year, we continue to use the existing quality tool, the smartphone app called Iristrace.

Furthermore, with the intention of understanding its guests better every day, the Company has continued to use the services of Trust You, a semantic analysis tool that makes it possible to have greater visibility of what customers are saying about NH Hotel Group and which has helped to identify the main areas for improvement both in terms of service and product.

 

IMPACTS ON VISIBILITY AND PERCEPTION OF QUALITY

As a new feature in 2021, NH Hotel Group has developed an internal tool which tries to predict which areas have the most impact on the guest experience, based on the different scores given to the sub-categories (room, cleanliness, food and beverages …) in the internal satisfaction survey.

The idea arose with the aim of creating predictive patterns that could generate percentages of influence of each of the sub-categories evaluated. These percentages of influence also allow the hotels to prioritize which sub-category matters most to the guest when determining the overall rating of a hotel, prioritizing these sub-categories in their operational action plans.

The overall perception of the Company’s quality has decreased by 0.1 points compared to last year and continues to be affected by the health crisis and the constant restrictions in each country. The overall score fell to 8.4 at the end of 2021 (-0.1 vs 2020). In relation to the overall score from online reviews, it has fallen to 8.3 (-0.1 compared to the previous year). A slight fall has also been seen in 2021 in the Booking.com and TripAdvisor ratings with a fall of -0.1 compared to the previous year.

By brand, the impact is also in line with the overall ratings, with the main brands obtaining scores of NH Hotels 8.3 (the same as 2020) and NH Collection 8.6 (-0.2 compared to 2020). The nhow brand has increased its rating with a score for the year of 8.6 (+0.1 compared to 2020).

SINGLE CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE TOOLS

The Single Customer Service Center provides support to hotels and to customers. It combines Customer Care, NH Rewards and the VIP Desk and has continued to consolidate its service in 2021, extending its capacity for response and improving the level of service.

In 2021, the Customer Care area handled a total of 24,025 contacts from the Customer Care Center (whether congratulations, requests, suggestions, complaints…); this represents an increase of approximately 13,851 contacts compared to 2020.

It should be noted that in 2021 NH Hotel Group has had to face a very complex situation because of COVID-19, which has forced the Company to the partial/total closure of many hotels and to handle many more claims or incidents, but also seen the gradual reopening of many hotels. In addition, the different quarantines established have not permitted many of our customers to travel and all the restrictions that are still in place in some countries have considerably limited travel.

This year there has been a considerable increase in the number of contacts, in many cases caused by the mobility restrictions referred to above and the requests from customers to modify the expiry of their NH Rewards points.

Complaints are handled by sending a letter of apology, response by the hotel or the legal department. Sometimes, compensation has been given –in the form of a discount voucher, free NH Rewards points, free room upgrade, etc. Responses have been given within the established time in most cases, except on certain occasions where there have been upticks in emails received (in relation to cancellations/modifications caused by force majeure, refunds, or simply asking for information) which have had a negative effect on the response time. However, the Company continues to focus on customers and customer satisfaction.

In addition to the tools referred to above, the Company also has official complaints forms in accordance with ruling legislation in each country.

Contacts received by Customer Care*

* The scope of this data includes owned, leased and managed hotels, as many of the complaints and grievances received cannot be assigned to a hotel.
** FY20 totals have been recalculated due to a new consolidation criterion.

Complaints received by solution provided

* Duplications.
** Technical incidents – solution provided by IT.
*** Includes comments on internal policies, reservations and other services that depend on HQ and not on any hotel.

COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS

In its commitment to sustainability, NH Hotel Group seeks to include and engage customers in its sustainable initiatives, whether by generating opportunities to contribute socially or by promoting environmentally responsible behaviour.

Direct contact with customers is key in order to offer them personalised services and make their experience with NH better and better. In 2021, more than 92.4 million emails were sent to customers.

 

Responsible guests
NH Hotel Group seeks to include and engage its customers in its sustainable initiatives, whether by generating opportunities to contribute socially or by promoting environmentally responsible behaviour.

To respond both to the challenges presented by the pandemic and to the rapid digitalisation and need to save the use of printed material, guests are invited to use the Mobile Guest Service digital app using QR codes to obtain information on the hotel’s services, communicate their needs to hotel staff or make reservations in the hotel restaurants during their stay.

NH Hotel Group has extended its “Green Stay” initiative to most of its hotels, a new service that is applied in hotels in the northern and southern Europe business units. Through this initiative, the Company offers guests who stay for more than one night the option of declining the room cleaning service, contributing to savings in water, energy and other resources. As a reward for these guests, the hotel offers them a voucher for a free drink for each day they participate in this initiative.

Communication materials concerning rooms and bathrooms have also been updated and have added QR codes referring to the use of towels and articles of personal use. This contributes to energy savings and at the same time promotes a faster, more transparent and effective digital communication.

In F&B areas, the hotels continue to promote the recovery of cork, a sustainable and recyclable material, through displays and specific units so that both employees and guests can contribute to this action which has been developed in the framework of Cork2Cork. More information is provided in the Chapter NH ROOM4 Planet.

Improvement in direct sales channels
Throughout 2021, business growth generated through the NH Hotel Group website continues and extraordinary results were obtained, with year-on-year growth of more than 50%. Furthermore, if we compare with the results for 2019 (in an attempt to isolate the impact of COVID-19), the months of July to November even showed some growth, due to the reduction in restrictions.

The effect of the pandemic in 2021 and the mobility restrictions and travel regulations issued by each country have had a significant effect on travel patterns, both in the B2C and B2B segment, affecting all regions, channels, brands and domains. The B2B segment underwent some acceleration after summer, which was subsequently affected with the arrival of the omicron variant. In contrast, the B2C segment has gained in importance and a more dynamic recovery has been observed in the direct web channel than the recovery experienced by intermediated channels. All this has meant that the contribution of the web channel to NH Hotel Group’s total sales reached an all-time high, equivalent to 15.96%, exceeding the contribution in 2020 by 2.13pp and in 2019 by 4.38pp. It is also worth highlighting the importance of the web channel, which at year-end accounted for more than 26% of the Company’s total sales in the B2C segment.

NH Hotel Group uses direct and indirect channels to market its products. The direct channels include the Hotels, the Call Center and the web. In 2021, the latter has helped to market products through 37 sites and microsites, using 17 languages and/or language localizations.

As well as innovating, our spirit is being able to adapt and personalise the experiences of millions of customers who visit us through the web and app. This personalisation, combined with the systematic application of techniques to improve conversion and usability, with more than 200 experiments in 2021, have allowed us to obtain double-figure improvements in conversion in certain periods, even in such a uniquely difficult year as this one.