Why US descendants are driving Italy’s boom in heritage tourism

By: Luca Signorini

As seen on We the Italians

The Year of Italian Roots, launched in 2024 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was intended as a national effort to welcome descendants of Italian emigrants back to their ancestral towns. Its goal was both practical and cultural, as it wanted to create a structured system to support genealogical travel, develop local itineraries, and encour…