Tourism drive to attract American Scots-Irish to Northern Ireland

Tourism Ireland which incorporates the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is targeting the Scots-Irish community in the United States as potential holiday visitors.
The centrepiece of an ambitious marketing campaign this year will be the sending of promotional mail to 250,000 potential customers identified from American census returns and marketing data in regions of the United States where the Scots-Irish are most numerous.
The campaign was launched by Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole, with the primary aim to market Northern Ireland to the Scots-Irish, whose Presbyterian ancestors emigrated to America in the 18th century in a movement that involved an estimated quarter of a million people.
The Scots-Irish settlers assimilated into the mainstream of American society, but, eight to 10 generations on, many of them still profess a close historical and cultural attachment to Ulster.
Above the image of the Giant's Causeway, in North Antrim, a logo on the Tourism Ireland mail shot reads: "Some people call it the Eighth Wonder of the world   . . . your ancestors called it home".
Tourism Ireland says the campaign will be the largest tourist drive in America this year, costing several million Euros. Advertisements are being placed in 12 major regional newspapers in the United States as well as in the Presbyterians Today and Baptist publications.

The Giant's Causeway, Co Antrim

"This campaign has all-island potential in Ireland. Many of the Scots-Irish may have no, or may only a very remote connection to Ireland. Their perception of Ireland may not be well-informed in terms of current affairs, but it is a strong, if vague, romanticised connection that is very deep-rooted," says, Marie Fullington, vice-president of Tourism Ireland in New York.
The Ulster-Scots Agency, through chief executive George Patton and culture director George Holmes, has been involved in discussions with Tourism Ireland on the need for the marketing drive to entice more American people of Scots-Irish roots to Northern Ireland.
Billy Kennedy, author of eight books on the Scots-Irish, is also assisting Tourism Ireland on the historical and cultural aspects of the marketing campaign.
He has written a special feature article on the Scots-Irish (Ulster-Scots) connection with the United States to be published in the Attache in-flight magazine of American Airways for February.
"There is a growing awareness among Americans, particularly in the south-eastern states, of their Scots-Irish ancestral  cultural background. These people were key to the development of America, but they did not wear their Irish identity of their sleeves and largely assimilated. This does not mean that the links, even after eight generations, are not strong," says Kennedy.
"There  is a remarkable similarity between the beliefs, behaviour and dialects of the Scots-Irish in American and the people of Northern Ireland. Over recent years many of these people have been visiting Northern Ireland, visiting places like the Ulster-American Folk Park and centres where American Presidents of Ulster origin are commemorated, and this is coinciding with a general growth of Scots-Irish heritage," he adds.

Sites of Ulster-American historical and cultural interest...

1. Ulster-American Folk Park at Camphill, Omagh, Co Tyrone.  This is an outdoor museum that tells the story of millions of people who emigrated from Ulster throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
2. President Andrew Jackson ancestral cottage:  Boneybefore, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.
3. President Ulysses S. Grant ancestral cottage:  Ballygawley, Co Tyrone.
4. President Chester Alan Arthur ancestral cottage: Dreen, Cullybackey, Co Antrim.
5. President Woodrow Wilson ancestral site: Strabane, Co Tyrone.
6. Gray's Shop at Strabane, Co Tyrone, where John Dunlap, who printed the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, and James Wilson, father of Woodrow Wilson, worked as printers.
7. Lisburn city (Co Antrim), where the Ulster linen industry was established in the 17th century by Presbyterian Scots and Huguenot settlers.
Northern Ireland, a few noteworthy facts you may not know about.
1. Visitors delight in the famed GiantÕs Causeway in Co Antrim, the scenic Causeway Coast, the Glens of Antrim, Mountains of Mourne in Co Down, Sperrin Mountains in Londonderry, Lakeland area of Co Fermanagh and the Apple Orchard region of Co Armagh.
2. Belfast, capital city with a population of half a million, was the main Ulster port for emigration to America in the 18th century.  The ill-fated Titanic ocean liner was built in Belfast in 1912.
3. Londonderry was a main departure point for the exodus to America and the scene of the historic Siege during the Williamite Wars in the late 17th century.