NH ROOM4 RESPONSIBLE SHARED SUCCESS: SUSTAINABLE ALLIANCES

NH hotel group promotes strategic alliances and collaborations in sustainability. the company is aware of the importance of collaboration between institutions to comply with the sustainable development agenda. for this reason, the company establishes alliances on the basis of common principles, values and objectives with different organisations, whether public or private, and at a global, regional, national and local level.

DIALOGUE WITH STAKEHOLDERS

The Company considers stakeholders to be the individuals or social groups affected by the Company’s present or future actions. This definition includes both stakeholders that are part of the Company’s value chain: shareholders, employees, investors, customers and suppliers, who are considered to be partners in the business, and external parties: administrations, governments, the media, business sector, trade unions and society as a whole, starting with the local communities where the Company carries out its business.

The opinion and needs of stakeholders are of great relevance for NH Hotel Group as they combine efforts to achieve common goals. In this regard, clear and continuous two-way communication with all of them is key.

NH Hotel Group holds a constant and fluid dialogue with its stakeholders, and gets involved in local communities, through multiple channels and formats, with the aim of keeping the Company up to date about new demands and needs, as well as of responding better to stakeholders’ concerns and opinions.

RELATIONS WITH ASSOCIATIONS

As well as the positive impact of its activity as such, by providing a service to cities and their tourists, NH Hotel Group contributes to the community by forming part of associations, chambers of commerce or foundations that promote concerns and encourage projects to attain shared goals.

 

NOTABLE ASSOCIATIONS IN 2021

Throughout this year, with the aim of boosting an institutional positioning of leadership, useful and suited to the present context, NH Hotel Group has continued with the strategy of establishing and maintaining close relationships with associations whose principal goals are aligned with the Company’s, and that promote and defend a responsible business development that creates opportunities, a sustainable tourism and the continued training of the professionals, among others. For their relevance, this notably includes NH Hotel Group’s participation in the UN Global Compact, the UN World Tourism Organization, Exceltur and the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations).

UN Global Compact

NH Hotel Group has been signed up to the UN Global Compact since 2006 and regards its 10 principles and the Sustainable Development Goals as the framework of reference to design the strategy and management of the Company’s Corporate Responsibility.

UN World Tourism Organization

The UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, promoting tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability. Until leaving in September 2021, NH was part of the working group supporting the SDG.

Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations

Founded in 1977, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) brings together voluntarily two million businesses and self-employed individuals from all sectors of activity, who join CEOE through more than 4,500 grassroots associations. It is noted for always favoring dialogue and negotiation with both sides of the labour market, respecting the interests of its members. NH Hotel Group collaborates in the organization’s Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition Commission and its Business Social Responsibility Commission.

Exceltur

This association is the result of the personal commitment of a very significant group of leaders and heads of the principal Spanish tourist companies, who in January 2002 got together to form this nonprofit association, motivated by their firm conviction to drive two major goals – lines of action:

  • To promote greater socio-economic recognition of what tourism contributes and represents as the principal sector of the Spanish economy.
  • And to encourage the highest levels of competitiveness to consolidate leadership and profitable and sustainable growth of the tourism activity in Spain, in light of the significant and growing challenges and opportunities that the future holds for us.
Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, formerly International Tourism Partnership (ITP), is a world platform that brings together leading international players from the tourism sector with the aim of sharing and implementing practices that will ensure sustainable behaviour in tourist management. The agreement in these areas aims to complement the companies’ individual goals, believing that the most significant impact in these matters of responsibility, which are the most urgent issues facing the industry at present, can only be achieved through collaboration and by working together. NH Hotel Group was part of this platform until 2020 and hopes to rejoin it in future years.

The Company is part of these different associations so that it is kept well-informed at all times and in order to achieve the goals it has set. NH is also a member of 27 professional associations in key areas for the sustainable performance of its activity (audit, marketing, communication, hotel management…) the fundamental aim of which is to favor the development of values such as innovation, continuous training and relations between members of each specific profession.

Basic Sustainability framework

NH Hotel Group, in conjunction with other hotel companies, launched an initiative to establish a common definition of hotel sustainability to promote responsible travel and tourism.

The Basic Sustainability Framework will offer a common starting point for the sustainability of hotels, which will be accessible to all players in the hotel industry throughout the world, regardless of whether they belong to a major international group or are independent hotels. Offering this basis for common understanding to all the hotels in the world, with actions that have a positive effect on the planet and on people, will generate a real change by stimulating demand for responsible travel.

In the coming months, the hotel groups that participate in this initiative will work in close collaboration with the World Travel & Tourism Council, the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and the principal stakeholders to finalize essential sustainability actions that will have a demonstrable positive effect, and will collaborate to share suitable tools and practice with the other members and with the industry in general, to ensure that all hotels start the evolution towards the goals of the COP21 Paris Agreement.

NH HOTEL GROUP’S CONTRIBUTION TO ASSOCIATIONS IN 2021

As a result of the strict contingency plans implemented in 2020 to protect the Company’s sustainability in the face of the COVID crisis, investment in membership fees and associations was cut drastically. However, throughout 2021, NH has made an effort to rebuild these relationships and responsibly renew memberships whenever possible. This reactivation, undertaken following the company’s ethical principles, explains the notable difference between membership fees 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, NH Hotel Group made a total contribution of € 345,940, distributed among sectorial, cultural, social and environmental associations and chambers of commerce.

Participation in all of them responds to two key objectives of the Group in this regard: to promote sustainable tourism and responsible business opportunities both locally and internationally.

NH Hotel Group promotes and fosters sustainable tourism aligned with the Company’s values, and for this reason we collaborate with a number of different associations in order to advance towards this goal. This includes, notably, the Company’s participation in the UN World Tourism Organization and in the UN Global Compact.

In relation to the second key objective, it is worth highlighting that NH Hotel Group’s is a member of more than 25 regional hotel associations and almost 20 Chambers of Commerce located mainly in Latin America, where its local activity is a fundamental value when it comes to supporting the promotion of sound and solvent tourism activity in the city in which they are located. Due to the nature of our activity, we are aware of the great work that we can do with our young people in this field, offering them opportunities to work in the sector and promoting stable employment.