With millions of Americans seeking to connect with their Scottish heritage, Scotland is experiencing a surge in ancestry tourism.
From those claiming descent from Robert the Bruce to fans of William Wallace, visitors are flocking to historic sites, boosting the country’s tourism industry and economy.
According to telegraph.co.uk, then it was the turn of McGregor. More recently, there are those who swear they were once a Fraser. The seeds of that have been sown by the success of Outlander, starring Sam Heughan as fictional swashbuckler Jamie Fraser. Now you can’t visit Culloden Battlefield without tripping over tourists looking for his grave.
Do you feel like you have Scottish ancestry? Well, according to Visit Scotland, you’re not alone. A recent survey by the country’s tourism organisation claims at least 40 million people around the world have, and record numbers are now visiting everywhere from Edinburgh to Easter Ross to tug at loose threads to see where their family history leads.
Among those visiting, 38 per cent of Americans claim Scottish ancestry as a compelling reason to visit, while the number is even higher for Canadians (53 per cent) and Australians (42 per cent). Likewise, the full-bodied Visit Scotland survey (of 14,500 respondents) found nearly three-quarters (70 per cent) of long-haul visitors claimed Scottish ancestry.
But there’s more to chew over too. Provisional data shows that for the first six months of last year, Scotland welcomed a record two million international visitors, outperforming other parts of the UK. Beyond doubt, there’s an upward trend of tourists influenced by at-home genealogy research and DNA testing kits.
Dr Matthew Alexander, of the University of Strathclyde and author of a study about ancestral tourism in Scotland, explains why it’s happening now: “There’s been a sea change from drudging through dusty archives to being able to learn about your own story on a home computer. The accessibility of detailed archives is crucial.”
Another reason is the Who Do You Think You Are? effect, with the popular documentary series continuing to make ripples on both sides of the Atlantic. “When times are hard, people look for something predictable and constant and that includes personal history,” explains Alexander. “We think about our past in an abstract way, but clan names are deeply ingrained in places in Scotland – and they can offer an emotional journey for the visitor.”
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On occasion too, it’s been suggested there’s something about American society and the national psyche that encourages people to seek their ancestors out in Scotland, rather than elsewhere. Alexander attributes this to popular culture. Not just Braveheart and Rob Roy – both released 30 years ago – but Mary Queen of Scots, with stars of the moment Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, and Netflix’s Outlaw King.
“Films and TV are important to the Scottish cultural landscape – they cast a huge global shadow,” Alexander adds. “I remember meeting one visitor who spoke of having shallow roots in America. That stuck out in my mind. They felt Scotland offered them something deeper. It’s become an anchor for many people. And it’s certainly more potent here than in England.”
Another argument holds weight when considering how the Highlands, in particular, has been portrayed. Once, it was a dangerous and subversive place. Then, following George IV’s visit in 1822 and the influence of Sir Walter Scott, it was vividly romanticised, with tartan pageantry gripping Britain. Now, Scotland has changed wildly, but this exaggerated idea has never really gone away.
Fittingly, ancestral tourism, and what’s led to its upsurge, is something Visit Scotland is keen to capitalise on. For Noelle Campbell, a connections marketing manager, the immediate accessibility of the past is the first stepping stone of the journey. John Knox’s House on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, she is quick to remind Americans, for instance, was built decades before Christopher Columbus left for the New World.
But it’s the emotional connection visitors have to the land, history and people that overrides everything else, she says. Then there’s the language and poetry. “Everyone from Elvis Presley to Jimi Hendrix to Bob Dylan has played or been inspired by our national bard, Robert Burns,” adds Campbell. “Auld Lang Syne is sung around the world every year at Hogmanay, so there’s already an entrenched connection there. ‘I feel Scottish, even though I’m not’. It’s a common refrain we hear.”
If the idea of what Scotland is to long-haul visitors has more in common with Brigadoon than Buckfast, then the message for tour operators is clear: so be it. America, the highest spending overseas market, accounted for one fifth of Scotland’s overseas visits (794,000) in 2023, totalling £1.2 billion of overseas spend – an increase of 25 per cent and 71 per cent respectively on 2019.
Anecdotes about those who have come to unearth their origins aren’t hard to track down either. Buying roll upon roll of family tartans does happen, as does scattering loved ones’ ashes. But what’s more common, according to Borders-based tour operator Clans and Castles, is heading off the well-beaten path to wherever the personal narrative leads.
As director Tom Miers tells it, he remembers a recent trip when an indigenous American family from the Great Plains of South Dakota joined a tailor-made tour to untangle the timeline of their surname, MacDonald. They knew they were related to a James MacDonald, who travelled to America to seek his fortune before the Gold Rush, but that was only the start of their story.
“Regarding their genetic makeup, they were less than 2 per cent Scottish,” he recalls. “And yet, they’d pinpointed South Uist as their ancestral home. It was such a powerful moment for them when they travelled to the Outer Hebrides. They immediately felt a kinship with the island.”
Of course, things don’t always run so smoothly. In the 11 years since Dumfries-based Solway Tours began, the company has taken the majority of guests on tours to find out more about the Douglas, Bell and Maxwell clans of Dumfries and Galloway and the Border Reiver clans of Kerr, Scott and Johnstone. The surname Bruce? Well, that often triggers suspicion.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times clients have told me they have direct lineage to Robert the Bruce,” says co-owner Mark Turner. “Plenty of times, we’re debunking people’s idea of their own family tree. We’re trained historians and factual with our research, so there’s a great deal of supposed genealogy we simply can’t agree with.”
Such has been the surge in this sort of tourism that the specialist operator has now reached a point where its calendars for 2025 and 2026 are already fully booked. More than that, dozens of new enquiries are turned down daily. “Scotland is hot property right now, more so than Ireland,” says Turner. “It’s been like this for about three years – the demand is huge.”
The spoils means the former history teacher spends his winter months researching graves, grave markers, church sites, parish records and ancestral homes, be it for Gunns in Aberdeenshire, Hunters in Ayrshire, or Macintoshes in Moy, south of Inverness.
As that might suggest, the thrill is an urge to follow each story to the end of its journey – or its beginning. Last year, Turner brought a family from Maryland to the site of what was once the castle of Clan Little north of Langholm, watching them tip out their mother’s ashes amid a deluge of tears. A few years prior, he reunited a family from Long Island with a cousin from Glasgow. “Those were emotional days,” adds Turner. “For them – and for us.”
The one certainty, as is apparent, is that by taking visitors on a tumble back through time the effect is something surprising – and totally worthwhile all the same.
How to track down your ancestors in Scotland
Speak to as many family members as you can and, crucially, remember names weren’t fixed in writing. Scottish surnames were ripe for misinterpretation and it may not always be obvious what the original name was. MacDonald, for instance, has many variations, including McDonald, MacDonell, MacDonall and MacConnell.
If your ancestors emigrated, the timeline matters. Plenty of Scots travelled to North America after stints in Ireland, changing their names to assimilate throughout their journeys.
Genealogy apps like Ancestry.com are great tools for tracing Scottish roots in the villages of your forebears. Visit Scotland also has a terrific resource of professional genealogists to hire for a fee.
Scotland’s People is run by the National Records of Scotland and is an unbeatable service. Set up an account, then search digitally for your family name through statutory registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1855 to the present, or farther back in time using church registers from 1553. The National Records of Scotland also has a dedicated centre on Princes Street in Edinburgh that can be visited in person.
The Highland Archive Service in Inverness has records that date from the 14th century to the present. Its satellite centres in Caithness, Lochaber and on Skye can also help.
A quick introduction to clan locations is the Council of Scottish Clans & Associations’ Clan Map – think of it as a compass pointing you to the beginning of your adventure.
