This article examines the history of ancestral tourism and its development as a form of cultural diplomacy between 1945 and 1966. The phenomenon often referred to as ‘roots tourism’ has during the last decades increased in popularity, especially in Old World countries that historically have sent large numbers of people to North America. While previous scholarship has focused on its existential dimensions and its relation to the twenty-first century tourism and heritage economies, this article looks at how ancestral tourism grew out of European attempts at expanding the tourism industry after 1945. It studies the international spread of ‘person-to-person’ programs that sought to turn travelers into ‘ambassadors’, and the subsequent transformation of such initiatives into ‘homecoming’ campaigns through notions of co-descent, targeting Americans of European descent. By exploring the case of the 1966 Homecoming Year campaign in Sweden, the article shows that the attraction of ancestral tourism was grounded in its ability to combine economic and political incentives articulated in the Marshall Plan. It developed out of a liberal-democratic ideology that vested individual travelers with diplomatic agency. In the process, European tourist agencies calcified the notion that ancestral tourism served not only individual experiences, but also national economies and international relations.

本文考察了祖先旅游的历史及其在1945年至1966年之间作为文化外交形式的发展。在过去的几十年中，这种被称为“根源旅游”的现象日益流行，尤其是在历史上已经大量的人到了北美。尽管先前的奖学金主要关注其存在性及其与二十一世纪旅游业和传统经济的关系，但本文着眼于祖传旅游业是如何从1945年欧洲扩张旅游业的尝试中发展起来的。它研究了“旨在将旅行者转变为“大使”的“人对人”计划，随后通过共同血统的概念将此类计划转变为“返乡”运动，针对具有欧洲血统的美国人。通过研究1966年瑞典“归乡节”运动的案例，该文章表明，祖传旅游业的吸引力在于其结合了《马歇尔计划》中阐明的经济和政治动机的能力。它是从自由民主的意识形态发展而来的，这种意识形态使个别旅行者拥有外交机构。在此过程中，欧洲旅行社对祖传旅游业不仅服务于个人经历，而且还为国民经济和国际关系服务的观点进行了计算。它是从自由民主的意识形态发展而来的，这种意识形态使个别旅行者拥有外交机构。在此过程中，欧洲旅行社对祖传旅游业不仅服务于个人经历，而且还为国民经济和国际关系服务的观点进行了计算。它是从自由民主的意识形态发展而来的，这种意识形态使个别旅行者拥有外交机构。在此过程中，欧洲旅行社对祖传旅游业不仅服务于个人经历，而且还为国民经济和国际关系服务的观点进行了计算。