Dublin's grand Shelbourne Hotel offers beautiful decor, a key location, and impeccable service. As part of that flawless service, the hotel even offers a Genealogy Butler to assist visitors in reconnecting with their Irish roots - an enviable position held by Dublin native, Helen Kelly, an experienced member of that Association of Professional Genealogists. As part of the service, Ms. Kelly offers a one hour advisory session to help the guest draw up a practical research plan. Similar services can be found at other high class European hotels, including the genealogy concierge service at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh, Scotland. This boom in the area known as "genealogy tourism" is especially big in the UK, but has spread to places as far-flung as Africa, the Caribbean, New Zealand, and China.

Research has found that genealogy holidays are generally taken by enthusiasts aged 55-75 and over with comparatively high disposable incomes. They usually travel in small groups of 10 or more, and are likely to enjoy non-strenuous activities such as visiting fairs, festivals, art galleries, historic sites, and cultural events, in addition to time spent researching their roots.

I don't quite fit into that stereotype, but I think even those of us who don't have the time or money for a full-fledged genealogy vacation somehow manage to conveniently plan the occasional family vacation for a place where we can get back to our roots a little - whether it's the ancestral homeland or near a major genealogical repository. Taking time to plan your genealogy vacation will help increase your chance of results, but don't expect too much! There never seems to be enough time to do it all in one trip...