A clan planning to travel from America to Scotland to walk in their ancestor’s footsteps have spoken of their disappointment at postponing the trip.
The ancestral tourism sector in Scotland has been growing in popularity in recent years, due to rising availability of DNA tests and the success of Scotland-centric film and television shows, such as Outlander.
And this year, the Clan Forbes Society of America was due to bring 25 members on a six-day journey to sites of special significance, taking in Forbes, Corgarff, Fyvie, Tolquhon and Cragievar castles, the Knockando Woollen Mill, Culloden Battlefield and the Speyside Cooperage.
Rounding off their adventure would have been a trip to the Lonach Highland Gathering in August, whose patron is Sir James Forbes of Newe, but due to coronavirus, the trip has been postponed until next year.
Bart Forbes, from Virginia, is president of the Clan Forbes Society.
He said: “While our members enjoy seeing Forbes heritage sites such as our clan seat at Castle Forbes and Cragievar Castle, they are particularly excited about meeting other clan members at the Lonach Gathering.
“With a growing interest in genealogy, these personal connections are far more impactful to members than castles and mansion houses.
“All tour participants except two, due to age, have agreed to recommit to the new dates, I believe that indicates the strong interest in the trip.”
In 2016, a Visit Scotland survey found that a quarter of respondents in a survey from the US, Canada and Australia cited their family’s heritage as a major reason they came to Scotland.
However this year, due to the pandemic resulting in cancelled events throughout Scotland and restrictions on travel across the globe, businesses and local communities that greatly benefit from cash brought in by ancestral tourism will be faced with additional loss of income.
Janet Robertson, of the company Thistle Dubh Enterprises in Colorado, said visiting their family’s ancestral homelands in Scotland is hugely popular with Americans who are in touch with their heritage.
Ms Robertson, originally from Scotland, helped organise the now-cancelled Clan Forbes Society trip and has been involved in organising similar Scottish clan tours for US residents for the past 15 years.
She said: “After moving to American and becoming involved in our local games, my love of Scotland deepened and I too felt that same sense of pride that other people had regardless if they were first or second generation, or part-Scots.
“Being a travel consultant, knowing there are over four million people in the US claiming Scottish ancestry, and sensing the deep desire in people’s souls to belong, bringing people back to Scotland became my passion.”