Ancestral Tourism Forums

Some areas have found that Ancestral Tourism Forums are a good mechanism for taking forward ancestral product development at local level. A number of areas already have such groupings or are actively developing them.

If you’re thinking of establishing a group in your local area, these practical guidelines and tips may help you.

Business Support Fact Sheet
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. A copy is available for download.

Business Support Factsheet (DOC 178KB)

New Product Ideas
The Ancestral Tourism Initiative is working with businesses across Scotland to develop new and existing products for the ancestral tourism marketplace.

Genealogy Packages at the Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course
The Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course near Kelso has launched a two-night genealogy break, in conjunction with Scottish Genealogy Research, for visitors looking to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors.

The package includes pre-visit research to help trace family records; two nights dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation; a customised itinerary covering places of ancestral interest; pre-booked visits to both local and national archive centres; use of a computer, and a personalised pack (containing maps) with information about ancestors homes and burial grounds in Scotland.

More information is available from www.roxburghe.net

Ancestral Tourism Islay Group
The Ancestral Tourism Islay Group has started work on developing a ‘local information pack’ for visitors looking to trace their family roots on the island. The pack will provide comprehensive information on local research resources and sites of genealogical interest as well as general guidance on tracing Islay ancestry, and will be available online and through local businesses on Islay.  Further information is available from Sharon McHarrie (Sharon.McHarrie@argyll-bute.gov.uk)

Find Your Family Service for Ex-Pats
Highland-based Scottish Clans and Castles have launched a service for expatriate Scots visiting on business, for a conference or incentive and keen to take the opportunity to visit their historic clan lands. Tours are available for groups of 1-30 people with clan or family roots anywhere on mainland Scotland. An experienced guide introduces the group to clan chiefs’ castles and traditional lairds’ houses, graveyards, monuments and battles sites, weaving the stories connected with these sites into a general history of the clan or family.

Further information is available from www.clansandcastles.com

The ancient secrets of Finlaggan go online
The Finlaggan Trust on Islay has launched a website which includes a new 'cultural database' holding parish records and historical documents going back to the 15th century, and referring to the clans and families which have lived on Islay down the centuries including the MacDonalds, MacKays, Camerons, Browns, MacIains, MacArthurs and MacPhees.

The database enables people to trace their family roots on the island back to the days when the MacDonald Lords of the Isles ruled from their Finlaggan stronghold.

Further information can be found at www.finlaggan.com

Step back into the past
Fairmont St. Andrews Hotel has launched a new genealogy package in conjunction with tour operator Scottish Ancestral Trail. The package offers guests the opportunity to take a step back into the past and explore the lives of their ancestors.

Genealogist, Caroline Makein of ‘Fife Rootsearch’, undertakes research into family history for those guests who have not done this in advance of their visit. Scottish Ancestral Trail then bases guests' trips on the research information provided. All aspects of the trips are tailor-made to guests' requirements.

More information can be found at www.scottish-ancestral-trail.co.uk.

Hebridean Connections
An exciting project to digitise and make available records and artefacts is taking place in the Hebrides. Each community in the Western Isles supports a Comunn Eachdraidh which has, largely through local voluntary efforts, collected and preserved croft and family histories, artefacts, documents, photographs, maps, stories, recorded songs, videos and records of all types.  

The online database, now consisting of over 40,000 records on all aspects of Hebridean culture and history and with detailed genealogical records for 10,000 people from Lochs and Uig parishes, has recently been launched to a worldwide audience via the internet.

More information is available at www.hebrideanconnections.com

Orkney Homecoming 2007
Businesses in Orkney joined forces to organise the second Orkney Homecoming event in 2007. Over 300 ‘homecomers’ were expected to descend on the island to discover their ancestral roots.

The programme which was put together is one that will really bring the whole visitor experience to life, from following in ancestors’ footsteps and discovering where their families came from, to finding out more about modern-day Orkney and enjoying the very best in what the county has to offer.

The Orkney Homecoming 2007 ran from 16 to 22 May, and tied in with Highland 2007, a year of events to celebrate and promote Highland culture.

Further information from www.orkneyhomecoming.com

Industrial Museums Project
Museums are an important part of the ancestral tourism product, and a group of Scottish industrial museums have been working on a project addressing the increasing amounts of genealogy enquiries received by these sites.

The project included a mapping exercise, examining where industrial archives were held, the extent to which they are catalogued and indexed, the amount of enquiries received relating to this material and finally, suggesting recommendations for the future.

As a result of the mapping exercise the museums have agreed to work in partnership to provide a combined outward face for enquiries relating to industrial archives, in order to harness the market potential.

The Association of Independent Industrial Museums and Heritage Sites (AIIMHS) have taken up the recommendations of this project and are currently working on the production of a Business Plan which will identify funding sources and establish forward plans for the group in relation to ancestral tourism.

Guidelines for Local Ancestral Tourism Forums
Download the Guidelines for Local Ancestral Tourism Forums here.
Guidelines for Local Ancestral Tourism Forums
(PDF document 30.8kb)