Michelin Excludes Marine Parks from Travel Guides, Receives PETA France Award
08.01.2025
London – Michelin is starting the new year by making a splash for animals: the French travel guide publisher has decided to exclude attractions involving captive marine animals from its publications. This commitment earned the company an Animal-Friendly Company Award from PETA France. The new policy coincides with this week’s closure of Europe’s largest dolphinarium, Marineland, in Antibes, France.
In conversation with PETA France, a Michelin representative confirmed: “Following our recent discussions, a rigorous analysis and a consultation with animal ethics experts, we have taken the decision to exclude dolphinariums and other shows involving captive marine animals from our recommendations. We believe that these practices no longer reflect the values of respect and responsibility that guide our publications.”
“This measure is part of a broader effort to promote tourism that respects wildlife and ecosystems … We hope that this initiative will help raise awareness of the need to protect animals and their natural habitats. We want to encourage more respectful and informed practices in the choice of leisure activities,” wrote Philippe Orain, international director of Michelin Travel Guides to PETA France.
This change rightfully sees the Harderwijk Dolfinarium lose its spot in the Netherlands guide’s 2025 selection.
“Unlike travellers who can choose their destinations and activities, animals exploited for entertainment never have the opportunity to relax or share quality time with their loved ones,” says PETA Vice President for Europe Mimi Bekhechi. “We applaud this progressive decision and call on all other travel guides to follow Michelin’s example by no longer supporting attractions that exploit dolphins and other animals.”
In the wild, orcas and other dolphins form close relationships with their families and travel vast distances in the ocean each day—but in marine parks like SeaWorld, Loro Parque, and Planète Sauvage for instance, these animals live confined in tiny tanks where they suffer psychological distress and illnesses related to captivity. They are unable to engage in behaviours that are natural and important to them, and many die well before their life expectancy in the ocean.
Michelin joins a long list of companies including Club Med, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Virgin Holidays, which have stopped promoting marine parks. PETA France is sending a framed certificate to Michelin as well as vegan chocolates to thank the company for this ethical decision.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
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