How did a tire company start a travel rating guide?

Some companies begin and disappear with history. Other companies manage to navigate rocky economies and continue to grow in their market sector. A few companies manage to expand beyond their original market and start a whole new business. The Michelin Guide and the Michelin tire company have a similar story to the latter.

The Michelin Guide started in 1900 by the Michelin brothers Andre and Edouard. 11 years prior, the two French brothers started the Michelin tire company. The idea was to encourage travel so tires would need to be replaced sooner than later.

It was theorized that one way of encouraging travel was to promote the finest restaurants and hotels that required traveling. Long distance traveling wasn’t a common occurrence in those days due to the limited number of motor vehicles on the road. At the time of the guide’s creation, there were only about 2,200 cars in France.

The Michelin Guide was just part one of their traveling promotion. The Michelin brothers went beyond the guide, creating homemade road signs and lists of auto mechanics and gasoline vendors in areas they were encouraging travel.

As time passed, the tire company grew and so did their guide. In 1926, the guide turned to focus on fine dining and five years later the three-star system was introduced. Now, the guide spans 24 countries and four continents.