Cultural Heritage and Ancestral Tourism: reclaiming Scottish identity from "Highlandisation"
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Strathclyde
Department Name: Marketing
Abstract
This projects relates to the study of ancestral tourism in Scotland, a phenomenon associated with tourists who come in search of some sense of connection with ancestral roots, family history or to reconnect with a 'lost' homeland. These tourists come largely from the principal areas of the Scottish Diaspora, in Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, the rest of the UK. Visitors often return year after year to Scotland, making them a loyal market. Research by national tourism organisation Visit Scotland in 2012 suggested that 10 million people within the Scottish Diaspora are interested in finding out about their ancestry and up to 45% would be interested in visiting giving a potential financial value of £2.5bn. Recent research by the proposed HEI partners with organisations that deliver ancestral tourism in Scotland suggest two issues which will be explored by this project. The first issue is concerned with the 'Highlandisation' of Scottish identity overseas where overly romantic narratives of 'loss' of land, language and culture articulated around forcible and violent exile after 'the 45' rebellion and the Highland clearances. These narratives have the effect of drawing visitors away from the central belt (Glasgow to Edinburgh) to the highland region where visitors attempt to find real or imagined personal histories. The second, related, issue for the project is that provision for ancestral tourists in Glasgow (outside of formal archives) is nascent despite a strong industrial heritage and excellent, publically funded tourism resources.
Our proposed research objectives take forward our existing research, mainly based in the Highlands and Islands, to understand:
- The discursive understanding of "Scottishness" amongst inbound "ancestral' visitors and the extent to which this is a purely 'Highlandised' narrative or takes the full diversity of Scottish identities into account.
- The capacity of Glasgow Life's collections to support more structured, focused interest amongst inbound visitors in the 'Glasgow' and urban/industrial dimension of their family histories.
- The potential for further development of sites like The Peoples' Palace and Riverside Museum to articulate and support this dimension of the Scottish diaspora's heritage.
- The potential to empower and mobilise local communities to tell their own stories of 'loss' and memory through emigration and their intergenerational links with the descendants who departed as a means to offer further support to ancestral tourists, possible linked to existing Glasgow Life provision.
The applications of the research will impact both at a local and national level. Locally the project will provide Glasgow life with a strategy to deliver a more focussed ancestral tourism offering with focussed development of key sites. Critically, development and support for provision at a local level with provide visitors with more personalised ancestral tourism experiences. At a national level enhanced understanding of how 'Scottishness' is perceived by ancestral tourists will assist national providers in ensuring greater balanced in how ancestral tourism is promoted and delivered.
Our proposed research objectives take forward our existing research, mainly based in the Highlands and Islands, to understand:
- The discursive understanding of "Scottishness" amongst inbound "ancestral' visitors and the extent to which this is a purely 'Highlandised' narrative or takes the full diversity of Scottish identities into account.
- The capacity of Glasgow Life's collections to support more structured, focused interest amongst inbound visitors in the 'Glasgow' and urban/industrial dimension of their family histories.
- The potential for further development of sites like The Peoples' Palace and Riverside Museum to articulate and support this dimension of the Scottish diaspora's heritage.
- The potential to empower and mobilise local communities to tell their own stories of 'loss' and memory through emigration and their intergenerational links with the descendants who departed as a means to offer further support to ancestral tourists, possible linked to existing Glasgow Life provision.
The applications of the research will impact both at a local and national level. Locally the project will provide Glasgow life with a strategy to deliver a more focussed ancestral tourism offering with focussed development of key sites. Critically, development and support for provision at a local level with provide visitors with more personalised ancestral tourism experiences. At a national level enhanced understanding of how 'Scottishness' is perceived by ancestral tourists will assist national providers in ensuring greater balanced in how ancestral tourism is promoted and delivered.
