[4] In 1954, Marcel and Nelly Tilloy, a couple of music-hall artists who owned La Cardinale on the right bank of the Rhône River, came up with an idea.

By the early 60s, the association made its first establishment outside France by founding hotels in Belgium then Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy.

It includes commitment to stop serving bluefin tuna, helping prevent the collapse of the stock in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, allowing them to replenish.

[11] In 2019, a petition, signed by Relais & Châteaux chefs, and in partnership with nonprofit BLOOM association, was presented to the European Parliament ahead of a crucial vote to ban the controversial electric pulse trawling fishing technique.

The initiative, in partnership with Ethic Ocean, protected the threatened species during its critical breeding season, allowing stocks to replenish.

[15] In November 2024, UNESCO and the Relais & Châteaux Association announced the signature of a partnership agreement to develop and implement joint projects supporting the sustainable conservation and use of biological diversity through the world’s hospitality and culinary traditions and savoir-faire.