Recommend September 2017 - 17

Opposite page: Tonnara di Scopello in Sicily.

trips to sift through records and archives.
Company founder Kathy Wurth reports
that "after the death of my grandmother,
my father wanted to know more about the
family, but he couldn't read old German
script. So I learned in order to help him,
the genealogy bug hit, and I have been
researching and travel planning now for
exactly 15 years."
Family Tree Tours specializes in heritage
travel to Germany, Switzerland, Ireland
and England, providing a unique travel
experience for those who are eager to know
more about their family history and ancestral
origins. Working with European partners
who are expert genealogists, its services range
from help with research both in the U.S.
and on location to making sure that every
client actually visits the family hometown.
The company offers a selection of escorted
Group Guided Heritage Tours that focuses on
different regions of a country and immerses
travelers in the culture. Another brand
is a Private Guided Heritage Tour, offering
a personalized itinerary that can include
making all genealogical research contacts
and appointments needed to research family

history; a company-trained, English-speaking
guide who also acts as translator; a driver
and minivan or small coach to visit sites
of personal interest; and hotel and train
reservations as required.
Even hotels have gotten into the act on
ancestry travel. In Edinburgh, the Balmoral
Hotel not only offers 188 opulent suites and
contemporary rooms, but invites its guests
to consult with its dedicated Tartan Butler,
Andy Fraser, who is obsessive about the
history and heritage of Scottish ancestry, and
who has traced his own clan as far back as
the early 13th century. Fraser has excellent
connections with the city's foremost experts
and is ideally placed to guide guests through
the process of discovering their Scottish
roots and their tartans. The Tartan Butler
can arrange a visit to the ScotlandsPeople
Centre, where they can search records going
back 500 years to build a complete picture
of their Scottish ancestry. The Tartan Butler
can create a bespoke tour that follows in
the ancestral footsteps to their own Sottish
region, and he can arrange a visit to the most
established kilt shop, Kinloch Anderson, and
arrange for a fitting.

In arranging travel for families in search
of Irish-born relatives, travel agents have
a friend in The Shelbourne Dublin, A
Renaissance Hotel that can plumb their
family's lineage with the help of accredited
Genealogy Butler Helen Kelly. She has
helped countless guests unravel the threads
of their Irish family history through her
professional consultancy service, housed right
onsite. Well ahead of departure, guests with
confirmed Shelbourne reservations will fill
out a questionnaire to return, outlining what
the family knows of its ancestor's history.
When clients arrive, Kelly and her colleagues
will have done the preliminary research and
drawn up a personalized plan on how to
navigate state and church records. She will
then spend an hour or so with her guests to
actually point them in the right direction to
find the family's actual hometown-as well as
experience first-hand the landscapes, villages
and maybe even the pubs of family legend. ■
Contact Information
Balmoral Hotel: roccoforte.com.com
Family Tree Tours: familytreetours.com
Heritage Tours: heritagetours.com
The Shelbourne Dublin: roccoforte.com
Zicasso: zicasso.com
http://roccoforte.com.com http://www.familytreetours.com http://heritagetours.com http://www.roccoforte.com http://www.zicasso.com http://www.germany.travel/trade-newsletter
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend September 2017
