NEW YORK — Myanmar, Marseille, New Zealand and Gettysburg are all on the travel radar for 2013 thanks to new tours, events and anniversaries. But the best pitch for travel in the new year might just be coming from Ireland, which is running ads “calling all Flynns, O’Malleys and Schweizenbergs” to the Emerald Isle for a unique grass-roots homecoming called “The Gathering.”
Here are details on these and other places, events and travel trends for 2013.
Ireland’s ‘The Gathering’
“It’s a citizen-led initiative to attract people who are Irish-born, Irish-bred or Irish in spirit to join us in 2013,” said Bernard McMullan of Tourism Ireland. “It’s almost become a competition where one county, town or village tries to have as quirky a gathering as the next.”
More than 2,000 events are already planned, including events for redheads and left-handers as well as reunions based on family names and clans.
Arabella Bowen, executive editorial director of Fodor’s Travel, is one of more than 44 million Americans (including President Obama) with an Irish ancestor in the family tree. “There are Irish people all over the world,” she said. “It will be great fun being able to connect with others going back for this event. It’s like an entire year of St. Patrick’s Day parties.”