At the end of the 19th century, in poor Sicily at the end of the century, all the small towns in the Sicilian hinterland, including Contessa Entellina, saw a strong emigration to America, where families went in search of fortune and a life better for themselves and their children. Here, various groups settled in the same cities, building small ethnic islands that faithfully reproduced their place of Sicilian origin, maintaining contact with the families who remained in their countries of origin. However, as the decades passed, subsequent generations lost those ties and, with them, the historical memory of the place from which their ancestors left.

In recent decades, however, the new generations, thanks also to the ease of air travel, have developed the dream of getting to know the land of their ancestors and the desire to be able to meet relatives currently living in small towns overseas.
This is how, in recent years, what is now commonly defined as "Roots Tourism" began, that is, tourism linked to the search for one's personal and family identity and to knowledge of the place from which they come. their ancestors left.
It is a highly emotional tourism, as it leads people to discover the places where their ancestors lived, married, created friendly relationships or worked, a real journey within their own personal and family identity which also implies knowledge of a social and human fabric far from our times but rich in values, which serves to mature and more consciously develop the "sense of belonging".
Those who travel in search of their origins, animated by these deep and emotional feelings, often make the journey with their family or with some of its members, and this involves the movement of several people who need to sleep, eat, use all the services you need in any form of travel. All this also involves the need to stay for longer periods and in different periods of the usual summer months.