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For over a century, the renowned Michelin Guide has helped travellers throughout the world find the best places to eat, drink, and stay, making it one of the most powerful influences on global tourism.
Originally created as an ingeniously indirect way of selling tyres and putting more cars on roads, the Guide has become synonymous with the good life and leisure travel, and its scope has recently expanded to cover the best hospitality providers in the world.
But for the majority, Michelin is a name that crops up the most when gastronomic tourism is concerned, seeing how it sets the standards for a broad spectrum of gustatory offerings from cheap eats to fine dining.
How much of an impact does the Michelin Guide have on tourism then in terms of individual nations and the world in general?
Why getting a Michelin Star matters
To quote Rebecca Barnes, chief executive of destination marketing agency Imagine: “Culinary tourism isn’t just a trend: it’s a serious economic driver. And nothing validates a destination’s food scene like a Michelin Star.”
Indeed, while we cannot determine the exact value of the monetary gain that happens once Stars are awarded, the Michelin Guide has served to boost local economies throughout the world, raising restaurant revenues in the millions while serving as a major draw for tourism.
On the subject of restaurant revenue, this is one of the biggest reasons why individual restaurants fight tooth and claw to attain even just one Star or a Bib Gourmand appellation at the very least.
Depending on the rating, Stars and appellations can boost business by around 20 percent for one-star establishments, 40 percent for those with two, and three-star places easily boosting inbound traffic by 100 percent
Having establishments listed in the Michelin Guide likewise boosts destination appeal: Tokyo is a classic case study as far as this is concerned.
In 2024, the Japanese capital beat out Paris to become the city with the most Michelin Starred establishments, boasting of over 200 offering a diverse range of cuisines and cooking styles as of end-2023.
Given that Tokyo was already a mecca for gourmets and gourmands well before the first Japanese edition of the Guide came out in 2008, Michelin-ranked establishments made its lustre shine brighter to draw in diners from overseas.
For some countries, the Michelin Guide also serves as an economic driver by way of employment generation.
Think about it: the Guide only made its Philippine debut last year, but it has since had a significant impact on its food and beverage industry by way of increased staffing for ranked restaurants who needed to extend operating hours and overall capacity, as well as training staff members to live up to the world-class standards of being a Michelin Starred establishment.
Even the Bib Gourmand, the appellation reserved for establishments serving excellent food at the most reasonable prices, has helped turn things around for micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprise (MSME) owners whose food was deemed impeccable by global experts.
There is, however, a downside…
Sometimes, however, attaining a Michelin Star can be more of a bane than a boon for a restaurant.
Aside from dealing with an increase in the number of diners, the weight of the ranking actually drives some restaurateurs to, for lack of a better way of saying it, try too hard to keep up.
As Giada di Stefano, associate professor of management at Italy’s Bocconi University, puts it:
“A study that we did in 2022 observed the behavior of restaurants that have been included in the Michelin Guide in cities where the Guide was not previously present. Not only does there seem to be an increase in prices, but even the way of writing the menu becomes more sophisticated.”
Some ranked restaurants raise the prices of dishes in the belief that people would be willing to pay more for the experience of dining on their premises, but the increase does not come with any improvements to the flavour and overall quality of the dish; more often than not, diners even complain that these deteriorated over time.
Also, a greater number of diners can put a strain on restaurant operations over time, and this also leads to a deterioration in quality in terms of the food, facility, and service quality.
On the road to success and beyond
These issues notwithstanding, the Michelin Guide has been a key driver in the development of gastronomic tourism throughout the world.
Indeed, Michelin Starred chefs have been at the forefront of bringing refined dining experiences beyond land-based establishments.
While no cruise line as yet can boast of a starred establishment on board, chefs from such establishments have changed the game by sharing their expertise to create dining experiences for passengers; and that masterful roster includes the likes of Marco Pierre White, Daniel Boulud, and Thomas Keller.
The experience has even gone into the air as chefs collaborate with numerous global airlines, including Taiwan’s China Airlines and Poland’s LOT Airlines.
Meanwhile, some chefs who have attained either Stars or a Bib Gourmand title have used their eminence to teach others a broad spectrum of lessons from innovative gastronomy to preserving culinary traditions threatened by the modern way of life.
It goes without saying that, from its humble beginnings as a vehicular marketing tool, the Michelin Guide has gone far and has even much farther to go.
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