Heritage tourism is booming

Like the whole plot of E.T. (spoiler alert), travelers around the world are returning to their homelands. The rise in popularity of DNA ancestry testing kits like Ancestry and 23&Me has resulted in the subsequent rise of "heritage tourism," or travel based on reconnecting people with their places of origin (usually somewhere on Earth).

• Heritage tourism is among the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry, accounting for an estimated 7% of all tourism worldwide.
• It’s also good for local economies. Heritage tourists tend to stay longer and spend more money at local and cultural sites compared to people just on a leisurely vacation; one study showed that a heritage tourist spent as much as 38% more per day and stayed 22% longer overall compared to other kinds of travelers.

All in all, the global heritage tourism market was valued at ~$604 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach ~$778 billion by 2030.

🗺️ Countries are leaning in. In 2021, Kensington Tours partnered with Ancestry.com to create a series of heritage journeys to places like Germany, Japan, and Ghana. Italy and India have also launched programs catering to heritage tourists.