NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--What would you do if you found out you had ancestors in a country you did not know you came from? Momondo.com asked this question to 7,200 people from around the world, including 400 from the United States. About half of all asked would want to learn more about that country, or even travel there.
The team at the travel search engine momondo.com, who were behind the global survey, are surprised so many questioned indicated they would like to learn more about their geographical origin or even visit some of the places from which they came.
"We wanted to explore how people would react if they found out that they have more geographic ancestry in common with several of the world's citizens, than they might think," says Lasse Skole Hansen, spokesperson at momondo and continues:
“Other findings from the study indicate that travelling makes us more trusting, because we go out and meet other people and cultures, finding out we are not so different from our neighbours, after all. And now we can actually see our ancestors' travels through the centuries have an impact on where we would like to travel today.”
DNA analysis confirms: Increasing interest in our ancestry
According to AncestryDNA, the world’s largest provider of personal DNA testing, scientific and technological developments have made it possible for many more people to find out their origins. And that is something of great interest.
"We are currently seeing a growing trend in learning more about the many ethnicities that form part of us. When our clients get their results, they often develop a passion to explore and even visit their newfound ethnic heritage, and are showing an increased interest in the culture, people and geography, from which their biological ancestors came," says Brad Argent, spokesperson at AncestryDNA.
Americans highly interested in ancestry
Of the survey’s participating countries, not all people are equally interested in learning more about a possible newfound ethnicity. The least interested nation was Denmark, where more than a third would remain indifferent if they found out that they came from more ethnicities than expected. On the contrary, over half of the Americans surveyed (55 percent) would be interested in learning more about their origin countries, and an impressive 40 percent would want to travel there.
Facts: Global interest in origin
- 53 percent would want to learn more about the countries and regions they found out that they came from.
- 46 percent would want to travel to the countries they found out that they came from.
- 22 percent believed they would be more open to people from the countries they found out that they came from.
- 19 percent would change their view of themselves if they discovered they were from new countries through their DNA.
- 21 percent would not care.
Facts: American interest in origin
- 55 percent would want to learn more about the countries and regions they found out that they came from.
- 40 percent would want to travel to the countries they found out that they came from.
About the study
The study is based on responses from 7,200 respondents, including 400 respondents from each of these 18 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.
Data collected through the research company Cint's online population panels in each country. Respondents are representative selected according to sex, age and region.
About Momondo
momondo.com is a free, independent and global travel search site that compares billions of prices on flights, hotels and travel deals. momondo has won several awards and is recommended by leading international media organizations such as CNN, Frommer’s, The New York Times and The Daily Telegraph. momondo is headquartered in Copenhagen and serves travelers across 35 international markets. momondo’s mobile applications are available for free for iPhone and Android.
About Ancestry and AncestryDNA
AncestryDNA is part of the Ancestry group of companies.
Ancestry, the leader in family history and consumer genomics, harnesses the information found in family trees, historical records, and DNA to help people gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Ancestry has more than 2.3 million paying subscribers across its core Ancestry websites and more than 1.5 million DNA tests have been completed. Since 1996, more than 17 billion records have been added, and users have created more than 80 million family trees on the Ancestry flagship site and its affiliated international websites. Ancestry offers a suite of family history products including Archives, Fold3, Newspapers.com and AncestryDNA sold by its subsidiary, Ancestry.com DNA, LLC.
