It may be the world’s largest hospitality company but even Marriott International has to bend to the will of China when it gets outraged.
Chinese authorities shut down Marriott’s Chinese website in response to a survey by Marriott which listed regions including politically sensitive Taiwan and Tibet as standalone countries.
That forced Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson to fire off an unprecedented apology denying a policy to ‘subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.’
"We recognize the severity of the situation and sincerely apologize," Sorensen said.
"As soon as we became aware of the issue with the survey, we worked to take it down and make the necessary corrections. We also reviewed the other areas on our websites and apps where this type of functionality might exist to make sure the labeling is correct."
It also listed special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau as countries.
Sorensen also said it has removed a ‘like’ by a Marriott associate to a tweet which ‘incorrectly suggested our support of this position.’
Disciplinary action of individuals is planned, he said.
Marriott’s app and web platforms have been offline for several days since the issue surfaced costing the company potentially millions in lost business.
It operates more than 120 hotels in the country.
The China National Tourism Administration took the opportunity to remind other global hotel chains to check the content of their websites and apps to ensure they don’t repeat the same mistakes.
