NH Hotel Group launches its NH Collection brand in the Netherlands

With the re-opening of three out of twelve Amsterdam NH Hotel Group hotels, the Company’s upper-upscale brand NH Collection has been officially launched in the Netherlands on 7 April.

After a period of refurbishments, NH Collection Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, NH Collection Doelen and NH Collection Barbizon Palace have been inaugurated as flagship hotels in the presence of CEO Federico J. González Tejera and Managing Director for the Benelux, UK, France and Africa, Maarten Markus. Likewise, the FEDECOM President (Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania), Juan rodríguez-Villa Matons.

Federico J. González Tejera, Global CEO of NH Hotel Group has personally travelled to Amsterdam to be part of the launch. “We feel very proud of launching three iconic NH Collection hotels today in this key strategic country”, stated González Tejera. “This launch brings us a step closer to our ambition which is that one day, whenever anyone contemplates a trip to a city for an overnight stay or meeting, for business or pleasure, they will always ask themselves if there is an NH at their destination”  highlighted the CEO of the Company.

Apart from the three NH Collection Hotels, NH Hotel Group also invests in other Amsterdam properties. Amongst others, NH City Centre Amsterdam and NH Schiphol Airport have been refurbished as well. Also, this summer the construction of nhow Amsterdam RAI will start, which will become the largest hotel of the Benelux with 650 rooms and 91 meters altitude.

“We are continuously working on the optimization and expansion of our NH Hotel Group portfolio. The launch of NH Collection in the Netherlands is the next milestone. The three flagship hotels have been fully refurbished and the results are stunning. Our guests are very thrilled with the new and improved hotels and that is in the end what we are doing all this for: hospitality is our core business,” says Maarten Markus, Managing Director of NH Hotel Group in the Benelux, UK, France and Africa.

Business meeting of FEDECOM and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce

On 10 March a representation of the European Chambers that are part of the Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (FEDECOM) travelled to Madrid for a meeting with the team in charge of the Integral Programme of Qualification and Employment (PICE) Management at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

The PICE is an initiative of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. It is part of the Entrepreneur and Young Employment Strategy of the Spanish System of Youth Guarantee. It contains a series of measures offered to all the young people to which Youth Guarantee addresses. These measures are customized and deal with the improvement of education and qualification as well as with the promotion of job creation and self-employment.

Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe aims at cooperation with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in some of the projects that integrate the Programme and that include actions abroad for young people.

María Catalán, Secretary General of FEDECOM and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain and José Manuel Escoín, Secretary General of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in France, participated in the meeting.

First Administrative Board meeting of the Chamber

On 14 January the Chamber´s first Administrative Board meeting of the year took place in Brussels.

During the meeting, the different projects the Chamber will start up this year were presented and the upcoming activities of interest to the member of the Chamber were discussed as well as, among other things, the review of services to members. The Chamber’s President reported about FEDECOM´s activity and the relationship the Chamber´s members have with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

FEDECOM Ordinary General Assembly 2015

The Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (FEDECOM AISBL) organized on 9 December its Ordinary General Assembly in Madrid. The meeting took place at the premises of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and included the participation of the Director General of Trade and Investment, Antonio José Fernández-Martos, the Director General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Immaculate Riera and representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and FEDECOM. The Chamber´s members of FEDECOM who couldn’t be present at the Assembly joined by call.

During the Assembly, among other discussed issues was the role currently played by the Secretary of State for Trade and Investment in CAMACOES network activity and the functional link between the Official Chambers outside and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. The activity report and the annual accounts for the year 2014 were approved by the Federation as well.

Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg) was reelected as Chairman of FEDECOM and José Miguel Garcia (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in France) and Felix Bonmatí (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Italy) were appointed Vice-Presidents.

New INTRANET exclusively for members

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has designed an INTRANET space, of exclusive use for members with the aim of promoting interaction and business opportunities among our members.

The Intranet will allow the member:

  • To update your business profile and make it visible for the rest of the members of the Chamber
  • To access exclusive promotions and information for members
  • To increase your contact network in Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg
  • To access useful information from your sector of activity

The Chamber will give each member a user name and a password to access the Intranet through the link www.e-camara.com/intranet/

In case you have not received it, please contact our technical support info@e-camara.com.

We would like to encourage you to use this new tool and benefit from it. We remain at your entire disposal for any suggestion or recommendation you would like to give us.

Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce on 24 November

On 24 November the Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Madrid took place. Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, as President of FEDECOM Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania, participated in the meeting, which was also attended by the President of FECECA, Rafael Roldán.

The Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce appointed Adolfo Diaz-Ambrona as Secretary General of the institution. The new Secretary General, whose incorporation into the Chamber will take place in January 2016, has been selected by a public tender procedure.

The public tender to appoint the Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce was launched on last October 5th publishing the vacancy announcement in the largest daily newspaper in Spain and on the website of the institution, as established by the Chamber’s Internal Regime Regulations.

Meeting with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Germany

On 8 October the Chamber of Commerce’s Secretary General met with Thomas Rinne in Brussels, member of the executive committee of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Germany, in order to exchange experiences and to explore possible areas of collaboration. In the meeting Bert Dehandschutter, voice of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg’s board of directors, participated.

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Germany, based in Frankfurt, is part of FEDECOM, Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Spain in Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania.

Plenary of the Chamber of Commerce in Spain – New organizational chart

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The President of FEDECOM, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, participated in the last plenary of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Madrid on 29 September.

During the plenary the new organizational chart of the institution was approved. It aims to encourage internationalization and competitiveness of SME´s and to improve services for companies and coordination of the 88 territorial Chambers of commerce.

The highest governing organ of the Spanish Chamber has given green light for the appointment of Inmaculada Riera as the new managing director of the institution and for the launch of the public contest to fill the position of Secretary General, after the resignation of the current mandate holder, Carmen de Miguel.

Inmaculada Riera is a Law graduate who studied at the University of Barcelona; she completed postgraduate studies in International Politics and Economy at the University of Florencia (Italy); she has a degree in Comparative Law at the University of Strasbourg (France); PADE by the IESE, and Forex International Degree (A.C.I.) in financial markets.

Her professional career started in 1984 and was developed primarily in the private sector, within the economic-financial spheres, the field of international relations and innovation.

She occupied responsible positions at the Venecia Savings Bank (Italia), the Bank of Sanpaolo (Grupo Instituto Bancario Sanpaolo di Torino), Arthur Andersen and PwC. She was a teacher in economic and financial matters at ESADE and other Spanish universities and European Institutions and was a speaker on many occasions at various Seminars and Conferences at both national and international level for economic and financial matters.

She was member of the Italian Forex Club, of the Assotiation Cambiste Internacional and of the Spanish Forex Club. She is a permanent member of the Tribuna España-Italia, organized annually by the CIDOB and AREL, and is member and speaker at the Tribuna España-Corea. She actively participates in the Advisory Foundation Spain-India and she also participated in the forums of the Advisory Foundations Spain-Japan and Spain-China.

Inmaculada Riera has been deputy of the CiU at the Congress of Deputies during the seventh, ninth and tenth legislature. She has occupied the positions of vice-president at the Commission of Economy and Finances, the presidency of the Sub-Commission for Privatizations and she has been spokeswoman at the Commissions of the ´Pacto de Toledo´ agreement, Science and Innovation, Industry, Telecommunications and I+D+I, and deputy spokeswoman at the Economic Commission.

Furthermore, she was member of the Spanish Delegation at the interparliamentary meetings of the ESA (European Space Agency) and she was a permanent member of the interparliamentary meetings of the OECD.

Coordination with the network of the Chambers is done by María Teresa Gómez Condado, Director of Coordination of the Chambers. She is Technician at the Civil Administration of the State; she has a degree in Law and Political Sciences and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid; she holds a diploma in French Language and Civilization at the Sorbonne University of Paris; she has a master´s degree management development at the National Institute of Public Administration, a master´s degree in Corporate Management at the IESE and Executive Development Program at ESADE.

Teresa Gómez Condado worked in the private sector as director at the Banca Institucional, Banco Santander and the Banco Santander Central Hispano. At the public administration she fulfilled various positions: general director of MUFACE, director of the Centre for Institutional Cooperation, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, among other things.

The President´s Office is headed by Mercedes Pizarro. As a graduate in Economic and Business Sciences, Mercedes Pizarro was incorporated in the Spanish Chamber of Commerce after she passed through ICEX Spain Export and Investments, an organization where she was Director of the Industrial Technology and Professional Services division between 2013 and 2015. Previously, she was manager of the Projects Division at the same organization, in the period 2012-2013.

Pizarro also has extensive experience in business organizations since she worked at the Fomento del Trabajo Nacional, the Catalan employers´ organization, for 11 years. At this organization her professional path started as Junior Technician of the Economic Department. Afterwards, in 2004, she was appointed director of this department. As an economic and financial analyst, she also rendered services at Catalunya Caixa as Senior Technician of the Research Department for six years (1998-2004).

Communication and Marketing management is done by María Jesús Luengo. She holds a degree in information sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid and arrived at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce since the foundation of the Savings Bank Foundation (Funcas), where she worked as Communication Manager. Previously, she occupied the position of Communication and Protocol Manager at AENA and Communication manager of the second vice-presidency of the Government and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. With an extensive experience in communications, she was responsible for the economic information at Canal+ and CNN+ for 14 years.

The management team of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is completed by Alfredo Bonet, International director; José Luis Coll, director of Competitiveness; Mar Pérez, Financial director and director of General Services and Pedro Galán, director of Information Systems.

Alfredo Bonet occupies the position of International Director. As an economic and business sciences graduate, Bonet is Commercial Technician and State Economist. He occupied various administrative jobs: general director of Promotion of the ICEX, secretary general of foreign trade and secretary of state for Foreign Trade. Furthermore, he was economic and commercial advisor at the embassies of Spain in Miami and Milan, as well as at the Permanent Delegation of Spain to the OECD in Paris. In the private sector he has been general director of the consultancy firm Altair Asesores.

José Luis Coll is director of Competitiveness. As a Law graduate at the Complutense University of Madrid, he was incorporated in the former Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce in 2003, coming from the Regional Council of Chambers of Castilla and León. In the private sector he worked at Grupo Pfizer, at the Banco Español de Crédito and at Iberdealer, in addition to practicing law for various years.

Mar Pérez is director of the financial department. She studied economy at the Complutense University of Madrid and has a Master´s degree in Business Administration and Management at ICADE. She has about 20 years of experience in the field of finances of the institution and has an extensive record in the multinational private sector in both consultancy and restoration of luxury properties.

Pedro Galán is director of Computer Systems. As a technical engineer in Computer Systems, he has been responsible for the department of Information Systems of the former Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce since the year 2000. Previously, he has been system administrator, programmer and analyst programmer at Camerdata.

Finally, the Plenary has approved Felipe VI the concession of highest distinction of the Spanish Chamber, the Grand Cross of the Order of Congress of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, for his contribution to the development and internationalization of Spanish companies.

Source: Spanish Chamber of Commerce

NH Hotel Group receives FECECA Award for its commitment to the development of Latin America

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Taking advantage of the presentation of the Company in Colombia, the Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in America (FECECA), whose task is to promote the development of economic, commercial, cultural and scientific relations between Spain and Latin America. The president, Rafael Roldan, granted the award for their commitment in the development of Latin America to NH Hotel Group. This prize is a recognition to boost the internationalization of the company and its commitment to excellence in service worldwide.

NH Hotel Group, a multinational operator with nearly 400 hotels and 60,000 rooms in 29 countries in Europe, America and Africa, celebrated its arrival in Colombia with the relaunch of 15 hotels located in major cities.

The presence of NH Hotel Group in Colombia is the result of the acquisition of the Royal Hotels chain earlier this year, which had 20 hotels in Colombia, Chile and Ecuador, which has followed a process of systems integration, services and brand image, which has been brought together in record time and under the NH Royal concept the best service, excellent location, local culture and knowledge, international experience, latest technology and awesome cuisine.

In this way, Colombia becomes the strategic country for the development of NH Hotel Group in Latin America where the multinational already runs 57 hotels and over 10,000 rooms in 10 countries.
The launch, held at NH Collection Royal Teleport, was chaired by the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Taleb Rifai and the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Cecilia Alvarez-Correa, among other authorities, in addition to strong representation of Colombian society and the business world and the national and international tourism.
100915NHHotel05EHFederico J. Gonzalez Tejera, CEO of NH Hotel Group, said that “Colombia is an increasingly attractive destination and our desire is to continue growing in this country, an active part in the development of their society and contributing our knowledge and experience to drive the development and evolution of tourism. It is a strategy to strengthen our market presence in the region and we are excited to offer our solutions, which adapt to the way people live, work and interact with customers, creating a memorable experience”.

Meanwhile, in Europe, NH Hotel Group is one of the continent’s largest hotel groups, with 325 hotels located in 17 countries. Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland are just some of the European countries where the Group has a position in the sector, taking all leadership positions in the urban segment.

Plenary Session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce

On 30 June the plenary of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce met in Madrid. The Official Chambers of Commerce from Spain in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania were represented by the President of FEDECOM, Mr. Juan Rodriguez-Villa Matons. During the Plenary session, the Master Plan 2015-2018 was approved. This Plan will establish the actions of the Chamber for the next 4 years.

The main objective is to represent, promote and defend the general interests of the economy and the Spanish companies. The Chamber will concentrate its own efforts on priority areas that they will define according to three criteria: competitiveness, internationalization and strategic relevance.

For each of these priority areas, evaluation diagnosis and specific proposals will be carried out that will be incorporated in the Chamber Competitiveness Plan (every two years), the Internationalization Plan (every year) and the Private Activities Plan to help the companies.logo_camaras_-_c_-_listado

The Chamber´s Competitiveness Plan will be structured around 8 key areas for intervention that will take into account the external and the internal factors they influence in the competitive capacity of the companies. The main areas for intervention will be training, entrepreneurship, technological innovation and financing.

The Internationalization Plan of the Spanish Companies will be organized around 4 points: information, awareness and training, internationalization competitiveness and institutional cooperation. The Plan will include the actions of the Chamber to offer to the companies the knowledge and advice that they will need to export and consolidate their presence abroad.

Concerning the Private Activities Plan, it will include all of the services to help the companies carry out without public funds and advice.

In addition, the Chamber will create advisory commissions, at horizontal and sectoral levels, in which they will incorporate the Chamber´s vision and proposals in each work area to help define how Spain should be in 10 years. So far, the Training Commission, University-Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade have been created.

The application of the Master Plan is based on three basic pillars. In the first place, the territorial net of the Chambers of Commerce, a main point in the implementation of the projects that guarantees the direct qualitative and homogeneous action for business and entrepreneurship in Spain In the second place, the large companies as an important element of the set of the productivity activities. And finally, the institutions, with the Chamber of Commerce acting as a border between the public and the private, capable of ensuring an effective public-private collaboration.

Ultimately, the Master Plan of the Chamber of Spain shows the commitment of this institution to stabilize the system. The company will be the major player in the process of adaptation to the current economic and social changes and they are consolidating the basis for the progress and the collective welfare of the future of Spain.

The new organization chart

The plenary of the Chamber of Commerce was informed about the new organization chart of the institution to give a better service to the business and the Chambers net. In the new organization chart the position of Manager Director is now vacant. Javier Carretero, the latest Manager Director, informed the President of the Chamber of Commerce on his decision to resign.

Source: Chamber of Commerce from Spain