But it is also so much more than that. It all began in France back in But the brothers had a vision, and they believed in the future of the automobile.
At the turn of the century, in , the owners of the Michelin Tyre Company decided on a novel approach to increase tyre sales. They created a travel guide, issued free of charge to all their customers, to encourage road-tripping.
Within its pages was useful information on places to visit, places to stay and, of course, places to eat. The thinking behind the guide was that people would fall in love with the idea of travelling by road and discovering new places. This, in turn, would mean they would need new tyres more quickly. It worked. For 20 years, Michelin compiled the guide and handed it to their customers for free. He was horrified to see his beloved Michelin Guide being used to stabilise a wobbly workbench.
He immediately decided people only respect what they pay for, so he relaunched a brand new version of the Michelin Guide that sold for seven francs. The rest, as they say, is history. What started as a marketing idea for tyres rapidly grew into a respected fine dining authority. By , these inspectors began using a star-based restaurant ranking system.
Initially, only one star was awarded — the three-star rating we know today was only introduced in Today, the guide rates over 30, establishments in over 30 countries across three continents, and more than 30 million Michelin Guides have been sold worldwide.
