The "Land of our Ancestors" project

3 Communities to build an innovative tourism offer focused on roots tourism

Le projet « Terres de nos ancêtres » repose sur une coopération singulière entre trois collectivités géographiquement distantes et pourtant convaincues de la nécessité de s’unir pour porter une offre touristique cohérente et mutualiser leurs moyens. Seul on va vite, mais à plusieurs on va plus loin !

With a unique tangible and intangible heritage linked to the emigration to New France, the Interco Normandie Sud Eure, the Communauté de Communes des Hauts du Perche and the Community of Communes of the Marennes basinhave decided to jointly conduct a cooperation project focused on the development of an innovative form of tourism: roots tourism. The common challenge: to facilitate contact and travel for North Americans and Canadians in search of their French origins!

Land of our Ancestors" project begins in 2018 sur trois territoires distincts qui partagent une même histoire et une même envie de coopérer à l’égard de cette thématique novatrice dans le tourisme. Samuel de Champlain, grand architecte de cette colonisation, est né à Brouage et a fondé la ville de Québec en 1608. Quelques centaines de Percherons ont pris le départ et ont fait souche au Québec, y conservant les patronymes parmi les plus répandus (1,5 millions de descendants). Les descendants de Paul Bertrand di Saint-Arnaud dans l’Eure seraient plus de 100 000 à l’heure actuelle et François de Montmorency-Laval, premier évêque du Canada est né à Montigny-sur-Avre.

An unprecedented cooperation in France to develop root tourism

Roots tourism is a project based on a form of tourism linked to a return to the roots of travellers to the land of their ancestors. It is a phenomenon that is already structured in the Anglo-Saxon countries that have provided many migrants (Ireland, Scotland, etc.), and is developing in African countries with the theme of slavery.

The idea is very prevalent in North America, among the descendants of those who colonised a territory and whose roots are extracontinental. It is therefore a question of a quest for identity and meaning for these tourists who return to the land of their ancestors, a tourism that is eminently sensorial and charged with emotion.

In France, very few territories have embraced this form of tourism, with the notable exception of the Montbéliard region, which offers routes relating to the migrants who left this territory in the 19th century.e Many of these people were born in Canada in the 19th century and have many descendants in Nova Scotia. However, many people choose to travel for reasons other than a change of scenery and culture; for them, it is a question of rediscovering a form of authenticity that brings into play the notions of identity, territory, mobility and otherness. In this sense, it is similar to religious tourism and memorial tourism, which offer a truly singular and personal journey by reappropriating history and that of one's family.

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Tour routes

Marennes basin

Charente-Maritime

Tour routes

Sud-Eure

Normandy

Tour routes

Perche

Normandy

A common ambition, to discover the original lands of the founders of New France

Through the "Land of our Ancestors" project, the partner communities wish to :

  • Develop a unique tourism offer for North American customers
    in order to conquer the emerging root tourism market
  • Promote and raise awareness of the history of La Francophonie among the population
    and local actors (elected representatives, inhabitants, tourism professionals, etc.)
  • Cultivate the spirit of collaboration between territories around a unifying project
    and pool resources to run an innovative local development project

In the framework of a first two-year action phase (2021-2022), the partner communities aim to build the foundations of the "Land of our Ancestors" offer through :   

  • The creation and animation of a network of local French and international actors around roots tourism.
  • The creation of communication tools such as a website and promotional brochures for tourist circuits.
  • The development of the offer through the animation and promotion of tour circuits in the territories and the implementation of a common event planned for autumn 2022.
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