Date :
30/07/2013
There are training courses available, often locally, with the likes of family history societies. They’ll provide you with an excellent grounding, and lots of great marketing ideas and tips. Check out our new guide, and for further information read VisitScotland’s ancestral tourism report.
ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh and the Mitchell Library in Glasgow are central resources – but be sure your guests know appointments are needed and there’s a fee to use their services.
Manage expectations
Many visitors don’t know some dates are difficult to research, or how long a search can take, or even where to start looking.
Ancestral tourists come in many varieties
Sometimes their needs are as simple as just experiencing an area – travelling about. Others need to immerse themselves much more in the land of their forebears. Look at how you can adapt your products and services to meet the expectations of individual guests.
If you’ve helped with the mechanics of researching, share your knowledge of getting about Scotland, and help the vast majority who want to actually visit what may well be remote areas. Remember, many ancestral places will have changed greatly, and not just ancient places either – Clydebank’s shipyards, or Midlothian’s collieries for example.
For many, it’s all about coming home, so make them feel at home, share in their nostalgia, and help show them where to look for their special places. You can often help visitors find new reasons to come back again and again for new experiences.
You’ll soon get to know the places ancestral tourists are looking for, so get to know the people who run businesses there, and collaborate on your unique offering. You’ll find that many places of interest don’t even consider themselves part of mainstream tourism – places of work, worship, and public buildings for example.
If you need more inspiration, read our new Ancestral Tourism Opportunities for Growth Guide. You’ll find lots more to help make you part of your guests’ ancestral experience.