Ancestral Tourism Initiative

A recent re-awakening of Scottish cultural identity and sense of pride, fed by media interest in family history, has led to an upsurge in interest from people across the world looking to research their Scottish roots. With over 50million people across the globe able to lay claim to Scottish ancestry, the scope and potential of this market in tourism terms is huge.

Why is ancestral tourism so important to Scotland?

Firstly, the market is ‘non-competitive’ – either you have Scottish ancestry or you don’t! Secondly research indicates that visitors undertaking genealogy activities spend at least 10% more per day than the average tourist to Scotland, with the current value of the market standing at over £152m per annum. Thirdly, it is anticipated that the number of ancestral tourists to Scotland could in the future increase from the current estimate of 200,000 to between 300,000 and 800,000 trips annually.

There are also other significant benefits. Ancestral tourists have a greater propensity to travel out with the traditional main tourist season, leading to a real opportunity to develop tourism to Scotland in off-peak periods. Patterns of emigration from Scotland in previous centuries means that ancestral tourism also offers the potential for good geographic dispersal of visitors throughout Scotland, and in particular to rural areas – for example over 40% of ancestral visitors currently travel in the Highlands. And given the diverse nature of ancestral resources and attractions on the ground, there is a real opportunity for local communities to benefit.

Why should you be involved in this market?

Well, essentially ancestral tourism is everybody’s business! Whether you know it or not, you are very likely to have come across ancestral tourists in the course of running your business.

Ancestral tourists may actually be quite difficult to spot! Whilst it’s certainly true that some fall into the ‘enthusiast’ brigade, seeking out each and every place associated with their ancestor including houses which are no longer there, places of work which have now fallen into decay, and gravestones in a state of disrepair, there is an even bigger market of people who simply have a desire to get a feel for the place where their ancestor lived, find out more about their way of life, and soak up the Scottish atmosphere.

What is true in most cases is that researching ancestors tends to be only part of the reason for most ancestral tourists to take a trip to Scotland, and is only one of many activities they take part in. Indeed, two thirds of ancestral tourists spend less than a quarter of their time researching their ancestors whilst here – which means that they spend a lot of time doing normal ‘touristy’ things!

What does a typical ancestral tourist look like?

Firstly, ancestral tourists tend to be older, with over 50% falling into the 55+ age bracket. It’s a fact of life that as people get older, they tend to start reflecting on their lives and families, and the desire to pass on their heritage to their children becomes stronger. The majority are also empty nesters, whose children have left home.

They use a wide array of research resources to investigate their family history, although most of these are web-based. This is therefore an extremely web-literate market. How much research ancestral tourists do before taking a trip to Scotland varies according to personal preference and ambition, but ancestral visitors always need a certain amount of information to kick off their research before visiting.

As befits their lifestyle, ancestral tourists tend to travel as a couple, although usually only one partner will have an interest in ancestral research. They stay mainly in hotels or B&Bs/guest houses, although staying with friends and relatives is also popular as might be expected. Popular places to visit in terms of their research are places connected to their ancestors such as house or place of work and graveyards. Other popular activities include visiting attractions such as castles and museums and/or exploring the Scottish scenery. The good news is that the majority visit more than one area of Scotland when they are here.

In order to really get to know the ancestral tourist and what makes him or her tick, it’s useful to know what motivates them to actually travel to Scotland to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors. There are four main factors:

Access more information: The desire to find out as much factual information as possible about their ancestors, including inscriptions on gravestones, census records, photographs of places and local sources like newspapers. Others want to verify information gleaned from internet sources, find out something new and surprising about their family history or to try to solve family mysteries!

‘See what they have seen’: The desire to get a feel for the places where their ancestors lived, and to be able to visualise how they lived and soak up the atmosphere – in other words to get a unique insight into their ancestors’ lives which they cannot gain through researching other sources such as the internet.

Connect with other people: Connecting with others is very important for ancestral tourists and can occur on different levels. Some want to share the experience with family members, discover long-lost relatives, or speak with locals in the hope of finding out more about their ancestors and their way of life.

Connect with self: The desire to connect with their Scottish identity and national pride. This is a very personal motivation, and can often result in a feeling of ‘coming home’.

So they’ve arrived in Scotland on their ancestral journey. What is the ancestral tourist looking for from you, the tourism operator?

Firstly, traditional Scottish hospitality. Very often ancestral tourists, particularly those from overseas, arrive with preconceptions about Scotland and our culture and hospitality. Whilst we wouldn’t condone overdoing the ‘Scottishness’, the ancestral tourist will be seeking to have those preconceptions confirmed, at least to some degree.

Secondly, a warm welcome. Although many ancestral tourists will return time and again to Scotland, for some the journey ‘home’ to Scotland is a once in a lifetime experience, and as such it can be an extremely emotional time. We therefore need to make sure that their expectations on this trip of a lifetime are not just met but exceeded.

Thirdly, enthusiasm. It goes without saying that ancestral tourists will expect you and your staff to share their enthusiasm about their ancestral quest, because to them it’s a really big thing! Remember that one of the reasons they’re in Scotland is to ‘connect with other Scottish people’.

Fourthly, ancestral tourists will appreciate knowledgeable staff who can signpost them to relevant places of clan/ancestral interest in the local area. This doesn’t require you to possess an encyclopaedic knowledge of local history, but rather to have a basic level of knowledge about key historic events and ancestral sites in the locality. Ancestral tourists will greatly appreciate personal recommendation and assistance of this nature.

And finally, ancestral tourists will look to staff to have some knowledge of local ancestral resources such as the local records office, library or family history society. Again, it is certainly not necessary to have a detailed knowledge of the records contained in each, but rather to make sure staff know where these offices are and can direct ancestral tourists to them.

Taking all this into account, how can you provide a better service for ancestral tourists?

•Familiarise yourself and your staff with the characteristics and attributes of ancestral tourists so that you know what you are dealing with and what their expectations will be!

•Consider providing free internet access in your accommodation or attraction – ancestral tourists will often want to follow up discoveries they have made on the ground by further research on the web

•Consider developing a ‘library’ of local history books and maps, as a resource for ancestral tourists

•Ensure both you and your staff have a basic knowledge of key historical events and sites in your area

•If your area has strong connections with particular surnames, make it your business to find out about the clans associated with those names and any relevant clan sites in the locality

•Ensure that both you and your staff know where the local records offices, libraries and family history societies are, and better still pay these offices a visit to find out what records they hold

•If you run a visitor attraction with ancestral connections, consider how you can tell its story in an engaging and interactive way that is really going to ‘bring it to life’ for the ancestral tourist

Perhaps the best way of equipping you and your staff with the necessary skills to deal with ancestral tourists is to do the online Ancestral Tourism Training Course.

The online Ancestral Tourism course is available anytime and is ideal for tourism operators who have an interest in meeting the specific needs of Ancestral tourists, for example accommodation providers, libraries, museums, tourist information centres and visitor centres. It has been developed to recognise the growing ancestral tourism market and to ensure that all tourism operators are maximising the potential benefits to their business. The cost to participate in the online course is only £25.00 per person.

How will this course help you?

On completion of the course, you’ll:

•Understand the nature of ancestral tourism

•Be aware of national and local ancestral resources

•Know how to get further information on aspects of ancestral tourism

•Feel confident about giving accurate information to visitors

•Feel enthusiastic about helping to develop this aspect of tourism

And the good news is that successful completion of the course and associated questionnaire can lead to accreditation of your business under VisitScotland’s ‘Ancestral Tourists Welcome Scheme’.

Visit the Events and Training Section here on www.visitscotland.org where further information on courses can be found.

The Ancestral Tourism Initiative has produced a fact sheet as an aid to businesses starting up in the ancestral tourism sector, or looking to develop new ancestral tourism products. Download a copy at www.visitscotland.org/ancestraltourism

For advice and information on the ancestral market, VisitScotland’s Ancestral Welcome Scheme, and a range of ancestral marketing opportunities go to www.visitscotland.org/ancestraltourism