Institutional communication

Stakeholders (I_25)

The stakeholders identified by the Huelva Port Authority are as follows:

Port users and customers

These agents assist with all dimensions of port activity – logistics, industrial, commercial and services dimensions – and are classified as follows:

Social sectors of influence

Communication with stakeholders (I_26)

The HPA’s Historic Records Office in the Reception and Documentation Centre, which reports organically to the General Secretariat, received a total of 5.500 enquiries in 2019, 2,590 of which were from researchers, whereas the other 2,910 were internal HPA enquiries.

The Communications and External Relations Department carried out external communication in the form of press releases, arrangements for public competitions and participation at conferences and other events to boost the image of Huelva Port.

A total of 106 press releases were published during the year to publicise the main courses of action and projects carried out by the Huelva Port Authority in the course of the year.

There was a special emphasis on the ‘social media’ strategy, opting to communicating through social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin, with a Twitter institutional account and another on Facebook for the APH chair, which started up alongside the Port of Authority’s existing institutional one.

A considerable effort was made in terms of the social media strategy with communications on social networks, specifically Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and, as new features this year, a page on the professional Linkedin network and an institutional Twitter account for the Chair of the HPA, in addition to the institutional account already operated by the Port Authority. These all reported news and contents to propitiate the creation of a community relating to Huelva Port, as part of the strategy of moving the port closer to the city of Huelva. The contents of each of the social networks were diversified in 2018, thereby generating different communications channels depending on audiences and contents.

This outreach strategy by means of disseminating information is being consolidated. It has proven to be highly successful  as a local community has been created with over 18,000 followers. Our direct audiences are thus involved and a feeling of proximity created .

Publications by the Huelva Port Authority’s Communication Office focused on the main projects and investment packages, with over 120 million euros spent in 2019 on infrastructure and improvements to the port’s facilities, and issues in connection with Port-City relations, the addition of Huelva to the Atlantic Corridor, expansion and improvement of access to the South Whart, the refurbishing of the Monument to Columbus, the pedestrianisation remodelling works of the Avenida Francisco Montenegro, innovation projects in logistics and transport, digital transformation plan, organisation of symposiums, trade missions, development of the South Wharf Multimodal Platform of the Port-City Call, among others. These issues were also covered in a quarterly report by the Huelva Port Authority to all our stakeholders, released in both the general press and specialist press, and also on our social network profiles.

In terms of trade and cooperation with the port community, information is occasionally provided on the activities of HuelvaPort, the Port’s trade promotion association, which has more than 50 members.

In due observance of the lines established to improve internal communication, in a bid to involve all HPA staff in proper operation of the Port and boost effectiveness and efficiency in the work place, the communication office has been providing staff with a News Bulletin. The devices implemented have been enhanced as follows:

1. Cascading communication, transferring and organising HPA information from Management and the Chairperson’s Office, channelling it to the various areas of responsibility, and hence to all work teams, so that within a short space of time all parties are aware of the contents of the information.
2. Internal communication.
3. Providing the website with updated contents for each area of responsibility at the HPA.
4. Employee portal as a management tool of the Port Authority’s Personnel Department, to assist employees from the point of view of internal communications.
5. Summary of press items as a communication device to keep the entire organisation abreast of developments in the sector.
6. Port Authority publications. These include the statistics report, the sustainability report, figures for the port, tide table etc., in  both printed and electronic formats, and they are distributed among staff and may be downloaded from the website as a powerful corporate information tool.
7. Quarterly News Bulletin issued to provide the latest company information for all the HPA’s internal and external audiences.
8. Social network assessment reports, by way of a tool to gauge the behaviour of audiences on various social media, and their interaction with news and features on Huelva Port. These statistics may be used to identify public interests and demands, contents reflecting greater or lesser interest, and the formats most frequently shared.

Main stakeholder concerns or preoccupations (I_27)

Through social media, the Huelva Port Authority has deployed a useful tool to address people’s suggestions and complaints that are sent to the various areas of responsibility by the Communication Department. This means that the public community that is being created with respect to the Port perceives an active response to its demands, thereby helping to consolidate the image of a receptive port acting closely alongside the general public.

Coordination and cooperation projects with other authorities (I_28)

2019 was the year in which Huelva Port consolidated its opening up to the city, boosting the Huelva Port Authority’s institutional role in local society. These links may be observed in its good relations with state, autonomous, provincial and local authorities, as demonstrated by their common projects and decisive backup for other activities promoted by them.

Similarly, the links with our local business and social fabric has been strengthened thanks to the 2019 Port-City Call and the different sponsorships as part of the Huelva Port Authority's CSR policy.

Technical or business associations of which the Huelva Port Authority is a member (I_29)

Huelva Port’s importance as a driver of the province’s economy, its concern with the environmental management of harbour activities and the importance of the Port-City schemes have led the Port Authority to join a number of technical or business associations.

At provincial level:

• Federación Onubense de Empresarios.
• Foro para el Transporte y la Logística.
• HuelvaPort.

At the level of the autonomous community:

• Suncruise Andalucía. This association works to attract cruise liners to Andalusian ports.
• Red Logística de Andalucía, created as an alternative for safer and more sustainable transport in our community.

At national level:

• Asociación Técnica de Puertos y Costas (ATPYC). Technical/scientific association to promote technological progress in relation to ports and coasts, and a common culture among professionals working in these areas.
• Asociación Española de Promoción del Transporte Marítimo de Corta Distancia. Shortsea shipping association to implement competitive multimodal transport models with a major sea transport component.
• AEUTRANSMER - Spanish Association of Freight Transport Users. Joined in 2019 as a partner port. This association is recognised by the Transport General Directorate of the Ministry of Development as a company representing Spain's most important shippers

On the Iberian Peninsula:

• Asociación Ibérica de gas Natural para la Movilidad (GASNAM), created in April 2013 to encourage the use of natural gas in land and sea mobility, in all local sectors of economic activity.

At international level:

• PIANC. Brussels-based association created for the international promotion of development for the design, construction, improvement, preservation and operation of navigatable inland and maritime waterways, ports and coastal areas. Spain is represented through the technical ports and coasts association ATPYC.
• IAPH. International Association of Ports and Harbors. Tokyo-based association engaged in implementing international frameworks for the common interests of port activities.
• ESPO. Promotes the common interests of members all over Europe, and also engages in dialogue with European representatives of the port and maritime sector.
• MedCruise. An association promoting cruise liner traffic in ports around the Mediterranean and adjacent seas.
• Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). An association catering for the needs of its associates, promoting the cruise industry, boosting its presence and acting as a common mouthpiece.