Marriott will ban the sale of shark fin on its property effective 1 July 2014. Shark fin will not be served in its menus. Instead high-end sustainable dining alternatives will be provided by its culinary team.
Marriott is committed to a pathway to source more sustainable seafood for its restaurants around the world.
Yao Ming, former basketball star and humanitarian has been protecting sharks. During the World Travel & Tourism summit in China, Marriott International’s Executive Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs, Kathleen Matthews, applauded Yao for his cause.
Marriott joins other hotel chains on the shark fin ban including
- The Peninsula Hotels group banned shark fin from its menus at the start of 2012.
- Shangri-La Hotels stopped serving shark fin in in 2012 just two months after Peninsula Hotels group made the announcement to stop serving shark fin. In December 2010, Shangri-La removed shark fin from its menus but served it on request.
- Starwood Hotels will stop buying shark fin for all its properties starting July this year and completely eliminate shark fin win all its establishments globally by end this year.
- Hilton Worldwide stopped accepting orders for shark fin dishes on 1 April 2014. This ban covers all its restaurants and F&B facilities operated by its 96 owned and managed properties across Asia. In December 2012, shark fins were removed from menus across restaurants and F&B outlets operated by its managed properties in China and Southeast Asia, serving only on request. The ban in Southeast Asia took place on 1 September last year and then in Greater China on 1 February 2014. The final step of the ban took effect in Japan on 1 April 2014.
Airlines have also stopped carrying shark fin on its cargo. They include Korean Air, Asiana, Air Pacific, Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines.
