• In the wake of the success of last year's edition, NH Hotel Group is planning once again to donate overnight stays at hotels located close to hospitals in order to help families with hospitalised children or teenagers come together during the holidays

• The Hotels with a Heart programme was recognised internationally as Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative in this year's edition of the Worldwide Hospitality Awards, which distinguish best practices in the hotel world

• This year, the Group has sought to pay special thanks to all of its employees who participate voluntarily year after year in this initiative by giving them the leading role in the campaign video

NH Hotel Group is once again launching its traditional Hotels with a Heart Christmas campaign across its operating markets, fortifying this way its commitment to the communities where it does business. In collaboration with several NGOs and local foundations, the Company will donate rooms in Group hotels to families with limited resources and children or teenagers hospitalised far from home so they can spend the Christmas together while the latter receive medical care.

Between 21 December and 11 January, the Group will provide free accommodation to these families at hotels in the proximity of hospitals in 30 cities across nine countries in Europe and Latin America (Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Spain, France, Netherlands, Italy, Mexico and the UK). The local foundations and NGOs the Group is partnering with will take care of identifying the neediest families in each location. These entities include the Menudos Corazones [Little Big Hearts] Foundation, the Josep Carreras Foundation, the Ronald McDonald Foundation and Make a Wish International.

It is worth highlighting the role played by the Group's employees in the success of this initiative. These volunteers act as the programme's 'ambassadors' in each establishment by welcoming and hosting the guest families and making the hotel feel like a home away from home. This year, the Company has sought to thank them for this philanthropic spirit and the 'heart' they put into this venture by giving them the starring role in the Christmas campaign video. Over 2,000 employees have been participating as volunteers each year, collaborating with various charitable causes in the Group's operating markets, since this initiative began.

Marta Martín, Director of Corporate Responsibility at NH Hotel Group, maintains that 'the best way of making a difference and creating social value in the cities in which we operate hotels is by leveraging our very business model: hospitality. Hotels with a Heart is one of our most cherished annual programmes on account of its charitable nature and the way it engages our employees worldwide'. In addition, Marta underscored that 'the continuity of this initiative year after year evidences NH Hotel Group's long-term commitment to society which manifests itself in multiple collaborations which seek to cater, over the long term, to the lodging needs of numerous charities through the Hotels with a Heart programme'.

Hotels with a Heart - trajectory and international recognition
This Christmas campaign is part of the Group's Hotels with a Heart programme which for over a decade has been working to support families with seriously ill children in collaboration with various foundations and NGOs, donating almost 22,000 room nights to families with limited resources in the process.

In addition, the initiative fosters voluntary engagement on the part of the Group's employees and creates the opportunity to work with diverse charities at the international level.

This year, the Hotels with a Heart programme was recognised internationally as the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative in the Worldwide Hospitality Awards 2015, an international event organised by MKG Group, the hospitality and tourism consulting expert which has been distinguishing best practices in the hotel sector across a range of areas since 1999.

About NH Hotel Group
NH Hotel Group (www.nh-hotels.com) is Europe's third-ranked business hotel chain. It operates close to 400 hotels with almost 60,000 rooms in 29 markets across Europe, the Americas and Africa, including top city destinations such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bogota, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Munich, New York, Rome and Vienna.

NH Hotel Group SA issued this content on 2015-12-22 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 2015-12-22 10:27:10 UTC

Original Document: http://corporate.nh-hoteles.es/en/newsroom/news-detail/el-programa-hoteles-con-corazon-protagoniza-la-campana-navidena-de-nh-hotel-hroup-201-en