Driven by a desire to connect with their family's heritage, an increasing number of Canadians are embarking on ancestry trips.
The rise in interest is a result of individuals immersing themselves in their family trees during the pandemic, reports the Globe and Mail. Online genealogy platform Ancestry.com averages over one billion searches each month, while its competitor, Family Search, attracted over 200 million visitors in the past year alone.
Now that travel restrictions are gone, travel industry experts say a growing number of people are retracing their newly discovered roots around the world.
Tour operators specializing in ancestry travel, like Travel Your Tree, offer extensive research and planning to create immersive journeys for clients retracing ancestors' footsteps. By utilizing basic family tree information and getting a sense of where their client’s family once lived, genealogists can curate heritage tours by using data available in historical records.
Many tours blend genealogy exploration with traditional tourism activities for a holiday with a family twist. For example, travellers can learn to make traditional Japanese pottery in Kyoto or visit an ancient wine cellar in Tuscany - a deeper way to experience regions where a client's ancestors originated.
Travellers who bring a family tree and some photographs on their journeys often find unexpected connections as well. In one case, as the article reported, a family wearing customized shirts printed with their grandmother's picture sparked conversations with villagers in Northern Italy, leading to the discovery of a long-lost second cousin.
