Press release -
Homecoming for Richie McCaw
As the New Zealand All Blacks prepare to take on the Scottish national rugby team, VisitScotland in collaboration with the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, is suggesting that the star player should be changing sides!
The Mitchell Library has conducted ancestral research into the captain of the All Blacks and found that he has links to Ayrshire through his great great great grandfather, Alexander McCaw.
With the two teams set to clash at BT Murrayfield in the upcoming viagogo Autumn Tests, it was found that Alexander McCaw, Richie’s great great great grandfather, a farmer, was born in Girvan, Ayrshire on January 1 1808, and emigrated to New Zealand in 1877.
The research, was presented to McCaw today (14 November) by the national tourism organisation.
An important international market, on average per year, visitors to Scotland from New Zealand take 21,000 visits, spend 260,000 nights and bring £13 million to the Scottish economy.
In 2014, the Year of Homecoming, tracing your ancestors and discovering your family history has been easier than ever before. With over 50 million people across the globe claiming Scottish ancestry, the scope and potential of the ancestral market is huge. Each year hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world choose to visit Scotland, to explore their ancestry further by accessing world-class records or visiting the parts of the country where their families came from.
Worth £101 million to the economy, it is estimated that 213,000 trips are made each year to Scotland by visitors who conduct ancestral research. A recent study published in January 2013 shows that 10 million people are interested in finding out about their ancestry and plan to visit Scotland. Ancestral visitors on average visit more than 3 regions during their stay and in value terms, could be worth around £2.4 billion* to Scotland in the next five years.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said:
“With over 50 million people across the world claiming Scottish ancestry, it’s not surprising to hear that Richie has roots back to Scotland, and in particular the rolling green hills, varied coastline and picturesque beaches of Ayrshire. I wonder if he would consider pulling on the famous blue shirt?
Ancestry is a major attraction for visitors from both home and abroad, especially in this year, the Year of Homecoming. It’s not just about researching family roots online, people really want to come to Scotland and take in the sights, sounds and atmosphere while walking in the footsteps of their ancestors. There is a huge opportunity for tourism here and I would encourage everyone lucky enough to have ancestral ties to Scotland to visit the incredible ancestral attractions that we have to offer.”
Dr Irene O’Brien, Senior Archivist at City Archives, Mitchell Library said:
“We were delighted to research Richie McCaw’s ancestry here at the Family History Centre at the Mitchell Library. We were able to use our ScotlandsPeople Centre to discover the passenger list for Richie’s great great great grandfather Alexander McCaw, who left Glasgow for New Zealand at the Glasgow City Archives.”
Known as the End of Year Tests, each November, a selection of the best teams from the Southern Hemisphere – including New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Tonga - visit the UK to pit their brains and brawn against those of their northern counterparts.
A definite highlight of the rugby and sporting calendar, these fiercely contested games are always popular because they are often the only chance for fans to get to watch rugby giants New Zealand, South Africa and Australia playing in the flesh.
A recent survey conducted by RBS, found that The RBS Six Nations Championship, which takes place in February and March 2015, generates £52m for the Scottish economy every year. Edinburgh, the home of BT Murrayfield, receives a boost of about £30m – with hotels, bars and restaurants benefiting the most.
For more information on Scottish ancestry see http://www.visitscotland.com/about/ancestry/
* This estimate relates to potential total expenditure by ancestral visitors while in Scotland, it does not include GVA or any other economic impact figure.
ENDS
For further information contact:
| Jack Gorman Corporate Press Officer Tel: 0131 472 2283 jack.gorman@visitscotland.com Out of hours media enquiries: 07699 766986 |
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- ancestral tourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors:
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- 2014 is the year Scotland welcomes the world, when it hosts the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and more than 800 Homecoming events throughout the country.For more information on Homecoming Scotland 2014, go to www.visitscotland.com
- The VisitScotland Information Centre network is a unique face-to-face channel engaging with around five million visitors and locals each year. Everyone who uses a VisitScotland Information Centre goes on to spend an additional £5.35, generating over £24 million for Scotland’s economy.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, tourism employs 270,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the industry contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx
