Marriot apologizes over survey error

US hotel chain Marriot International apologized on Tuesday after it listed Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Tibet as individual nations in a customer questionnaire.

"We are terribly sorry about the questionnaire, and we realize the mistake may disappoint members of our rewards program in China," the company said in a post on Sina Weibo on Tuesday afternoon.

The error was first discovered by an internet user identified as "Zhongjusaodi" who told the Huanqiu news website that he had received an email inviting Marriot Rewards members to take part in a survey.