Institutional communication

Stakeholders (I_25)

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

Customers and Users of the Port

They are the stakeholders that contribute to the activity of the port in all its aspects: logistic, industrial, commercial and services. They are classified as:

Social sectors of influence

Communication with stakeholders (I_26)

The APH Historical Archive, located in the Visitors and Documentation Centre of the Port Authority and hierarchically dependent on the General Secretariat, received a total of 3.440 queries in 2020, 1,590 of which were from researchers and 1,850 as APH internal queries.

In this regard, the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis meant that the number of queries to the archive made were down on other years. This was particularly due to the obstacles caused by the constraints on in-person visits which are often necessary for this type of queries, given the restrictions on access to the Port of Huelva facilities, including the Archive, as preventive measures in the health crisis.

The Communications and External Relations Department implemented external communication actions by means of disseminating press releases, organising public calls and participating in conferences and events, aimed at heightening the Port of Huelva’s image.

During the year, a total of 170 press releases were published to disseminate the main actions and projects implemented by Huelva Port Authority in that period.

Progress was made in the social media strategy, by strengthening communication through the Huelva Port Authority Profiles – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin – with the consolidation of the Twitter and Facebook institutional account of the APH Chair, profiles that have been consolidated since their launch in 2019.

Those channels are used to disseminate the news and contents fostering the creation of a community around the Port of Huelva, within the strategic line of the Port outreach to the City. In 2020, due to the pandemic and the nationwide State of Alarm, public interest communication through social media was strengthened given that the Port of Huelva is an essential critical infrastructure and communication flows with the general public were essential throughout the year.

This outreach strategy in such a difficult year where the public were more present than ever in the social media because of being locked down at home and of the measures restricting mobility, continues to perform really well, as it is the driving force of a local community of over 24,914 followers, which was up 38% on 2019. This means greater involvement and a feeling of proximity by our direct audiences.

As regards the themes disseminated by Huelva Port Authority's Communication Department, they focused in the early part of the year on information of public interest of the Port of Huelva's activity as an essential and critical infrastructure, and core to supplying the country. In tandem, information was also provided on the Port's main projects and investments with a total provision of €120 million for investment in infrastructures and improvement of the port facilities, along with areas related to the Port-City outreach, the inclusion of Huelva in the Atlantic Corridor, the expansion and improvement of the accesses to the South Wharf, the opening of the restored Monument to Columbus, the remodelling works the civic engagement of Avenida Francisco Montenegro, logistics and transport innovation projects, digital transformation strategy, development of the South Wharf Multimodal Platform and the Port-City Call, among others. Those themes were also disseminated in the Huelva Port Authority quarterly newsletter, which is distributed to all our stakeholders, through the specialist and general press, as well as our social media profiles.

As regards marketing and cooperation with the port community, the activities organised by HuelvaPort, the Association for the Commercial Promotion of the Port of Huelva and which has over 50 members, were also disseminated as they occurred. This activity has also been impacted by the world pandemic situation.

As regards the internal communication, great emphasis has been placed this year on maintaining workforce cohesion during the lockdown months when the majority of APH employees were remote working except in those case when working in-person was essential (port police, control centre, etc.). Immersed in the digital transformation process of the entity that had begun in 2019, by means of using efficient tools such as the Office 365 platform, email and telephone, collaborative remote working in real time, with a high level of security and productivity, was boosted.

In this context, internal communication tools were strengthened, by means of the new information technologies, with great involvement of the whole APH workforce in the smooth running of the Port, efficiently and effectively in each of the areas of responsibility.

The instruments implemented and already functioning have also been reinforced:

1. Cascading communication, by transferring and organising the APH information from Management and the Chairship to the different areas of responsibility, and from there to all work teams, in order for everyone to know the content of the information in a timely manner.
2. Internal communication.
3. Inclusion of updated content on the website from each of the APH areas of responsibility.
4. Employee portal as a management tool of the Port Authority’s Human Resources Department and to help its workers from the point of view of Internal Communication.
5. SharePoint of the Integrated Management System (IMS) which apart from offering access to all the documents of the Systems has a news channel reporting on all aspects related to the IMS and an open form for APH employees to submit ideas and/or suggestions.
6. Press summary as a means of communication to keep the whole organisation up-to-date with the sector’s latest news.
7. Port Authority Publications. The Port Authority publications (Statistical Report, Sustainability Report, The Port in Figures, Tide Tables, etc.) are in paper and digital format, are distributed among the workers and can be downloaded from the website, making them an important tool for information on the company.
8. Quarterly Newsletter distributed to all external and internal audiences of interest for the APH in order to disseminate its news.
9. Social media assessment reports.  As a tool to measure the behaviour of the audience of the different social media and its interaction with the Port of Huelva news and latest development. Those statistics allow the interests and demands of the citizens to be identified, along with the content in which there is greater or less interest and the most shared formats

Main stakeholder concerns or preoccupations (I_27)

Huelva Port Authority has a very useful social media tool to receive suggestions and complaints from the general public, which the Communication Department then forwards to the relevant areas of responsibility. This initiative is in addition to those already in place such as the website suggestion channel or the Huelva Port Authority Registry. That has meant that the citizen community being created around the Port perceives that its demands are being actively listened to, which is helping to consolidate the image of an approachable and receptive port.

A Customer Satisfaction Study was also conducted, whose aim was to discover the degree of satisfaction of the different types of customers of Huelva Port Authority, establish how their satisfaction has evolved and focus the improvement actions on the most important attributes to increase the satisfaction.

Coordination and cooperation projects with other authorities (I_28)

2020 was the year when the focus was on new partnership within the Port of Huelva’s outreach to the city, by reinforcing Huelva Port Authority’s institutional role in local society. This link can be seen from the new partnerships with citizen entities and groups that have joined the existing network of good relations that APH has with the different state, regional, provincial and local administrations, which has led to their common projects and to the decisive support APH provides to other activities promoted by them.

Similarly, the links with our local business and social fabric has been strengthened by means of the 2020 Port-City Call and the different sponsorships as part of the Huelva Port Authority's CSR policy.

Business or technical associations to which Huelva Port Authority belongs (I_29)

The importance of the Port of Huelva as the driver of the province’s economy, its concern about the environmental management of the port activity and the importance of the Port-City programme has led to Huelva Port Authority joining different business or technical associations.

Provincially:

• Huelva Business Federation.
• Transport and Logistics Forum.
• HuelvaPort.

Regionally:

• Suncruise Andalucía. This association works on developing cruise traffic at the ports of Andalusia.
• Andalusia Logistics Network, set up as an alternative for more sustainable and safer transport in our community.

Nationally:

• Ports and Coasts Technical Association (ATPYC). Scientific and technical association to drive technological progress in Ports and Coasts, by fostering a common culture among the professionals in both fields.
• Spanish Association to Promote Shortsea Shipping Association to develop competitive transport multimodal chains with significant participation from the maritime sector.
• 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. In 2020, the association changed its name to ACE - Spanish Association of Shippers, a name that is more representative of the interests that it covers.

At the level of mainland Spain and Portugal:

• Iberian Association for Gas-Powered Mobility (GASNAM), set up in 2013 to foster the use of natural gas for terrestrial and maritime mobility, in all sectors of the region’s economic activity. In 2020, the APH joined the Management Board as it had been elected as a member of its Maritime Section. It also joined as a member the Maritime Section of the Management Board of the Balearia shipping company, a good client of the Port of Huelva.

Internationally:

• PIANC. Association, whose headquarters in Brussels, set up to promote internationally development in the design, construction, improvement, conservation and operating of maritime and inland waterways, ports and coastal areas. The ATPYC represents Spain.
• IAPH. International Association of Ports and Harbors. Association, whose headquarters are in Tokyo, to develop international frameworks for the common interests of the port industry.
• ESPO. Promotes the common interests of its members throughout Europe and working with the European stakeholders of the maritime and port sector.
• MedCruise. This association promotes cruise traffic in Mediterranean ports and neighbouring seas.
• Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). The members of this association are cruise ship owners from around the world whose mission is to foster the cruise industry, strengthening its presence and meaning it can speak with one voice.