Taiwan hotel owner ditches Marriott over ‘One China’ listing
A Taiwan hotel owner plans to end its association with Marriott International in the first sign of retaliation against international firms caving into the ‘One China’ demands by Beijing.
The owner of the Four Points by Sheraton in Zhonghe, Taipei took out a front page newspaper ad to announce it will terminate its franchise agreement with Marriott.
"We are sternly protesting against Marriott International unilaterally listing our hotel as ‘Taiwan," it said.
The Four Points by Sheraton brand became part of Marriott portfolio when it acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
The hotel will be renamed and will no longer accept bookings via the Marriott reservations system, said hotel spokesperson Lily Cheng.
"Of course it will cause some impact, but our main customers are corporates, and Taiwanese people, and other booking websites," she said.
Earlier this year Marriott’s Chinese website was blocked for about one week and the company was forced into an apology and changed its listing of Taiwan to ‘Taiwan, China.’
Since then Beijing has forced dozens of international airlines and other companies to do the same, and Taiwan authorities have threatened to take action against airlines who submitting to China’s demands.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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