North Wales tourism chiefs to promote church visits

Tourism bosses in North Wales are hoping to attract more visitors to the area by focusing on genealogy tourism.

It has been suggested that greater promotion of the churches and chapels across the region will result in an increase in visitor numbers thanks to the current level of interest in family history. While the internet has made research considerably easier, television programmes such as BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are have helped to generate wider interest.

According to a report by Wales Online, council bosses in Conwy, Flintshire and Denbighshire are keen to tap into this growing market and encourage visits by people looking for information on their ancestors in parish records.

A report, Living Rural Heritage through Church and Chapel Tourism, which went before Conwy Council's cabinet yesterday, said: "The project will establish an accessible virtual or physical ‘rural one-stop shop’ genealogy research project in partnership with participating churches and chapels and local communities, providing digital, physical and signposting access to cross-county genealogy research materials."

Julian Burrell, a director of the Wales Tourism Alliance, told Wales Online he believes even if people do choose to research over the internet, investing in promoting genealogy tourism will still help to bring visitors to the country.

He said: "Nothing beats actually going to the place where your grandfather was born."