00:01The South Australian Government has helped finance this. They've paid money to the Michelin
00:06Guide to get inspectors here. The Michelin Guide is something that's been around for
00:10over 100 years. It originated in France and was started by the Michelin Tire Company as
00:15a guide for motorists, but has obviously now become what's seen as perhaps the highest
00:20honour in restaurants to get a star from the Michelin Guide, or even three stars, which
00:24is their highest rating. They have, in more recent decades, expanded to Asia and the Americas,
00:31but a lot of those countries have actually paid to get the guide to come to those places.
00:36Earlier this year, New Zealand reportedly paid just over $6 million in a three-year deal to
00:42get the Michelin Guide there, and they announced their Michelin-starred restaurants in July.
00:48And we do know that Michelin has been trying to make this foray into Australia for some
00:53time. They first approached Tourism Australia with this idea in 2016, but it's something
00:59that's been turned down by Tourism Australia over the years, presumably partially due to
01:05the cost of that and a focus on other issues. But the South Australian Government has now
01:10jumped on this, and I think, you know, trying to promote the fact that this state is very
01:14proud of its restaurant culture, its wine culture, and hoping that getting this sort of international
01:20rating on some of its venues will really boost it onto the world stage.
01:25So it's all to do with Tourism, is it?
01:27Yes, that's right. The restaurants, obviously, that ultimately get the stars are likely to
01:34see a huge boost in tourism. A chef who now owns a restaurant here in Adelaide, Afro-Cola,
01:40he used to work in starred venues in Europe and said, as soon as you get a star, you're going
01:46to see a huge boost in people booking your restaurant. But a lot of those people are international
01:51tourists and, you know, come here, they're the kind of tourists that have money to spend.
01:56And so I think the hope is, while it will be a big benefit to those restaurants that do
02:00get listed or get stars in the guide, there'll also be a boost associated with that to other
02:06parts of the economy.
