Michelin Travel Guide Turns 100 – and Bans Animal Rides, Leather Sales, and More
London – In a landmark move marking its 100th anniversary, the Michelin Green Guide – which is sold in retailers across the UK – has confirmed to PETA that it will no longer recommend “tourist activities using animals,” including elephant and camel rides. The newest edition of the Green Guide Spain also breaks ground by explicitly warning readers that bullfighting is a “cruel and declining tradition.”
As Michelin Éditions explained, “We are convinced of the need to present content promoting responsible tourism, which includes animal welfare. Therefore, activities that can cause mistreatment … have been removed from our guides.”
A camel being abused in Egypt’s tourism industry. Credit: PETA Asia
“Cruel and archaic activities, such as camel rides and bullfights, belong in the history books, and PETA is celebrating Michelin for removing them from all editions,” says PETA Senior Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “This compassionate decision shows the tourism industry how even a century-old institution can, and must, evolve to reflect today’s understanding that all animals are individuals who feel pain and fear.”
As Michelin noted, public opposition to bullfighting continues to grow, with 8 out of 10 Spaniards now rejecting the gruesome spectacle. During bullfights, assailants repeatedly stab bulls with lances and banderillas before attempting to kill them by driving a sword into their lungs.
Michelin is one of the most prestigious and influential travel guides in the world to ban elephant rides, camel rides, and other harmful operations – particularly in light of PETA exposés revealing, for example, handlers at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt violently beating exhausted horses and camels who are used to haul tourists in the blistering heat.
Michelin also decided to end leather sales, which is a win for cows – who endure extreme confinement, painful mutilations, and slaughter – and for the planet, as the leather industry is a major contributor to the climate catastrophe, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” -points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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