They're basing the search on surnames because many typical Guernsey names are so distinctive. Altogether, there are about 120 family names considered typical of Guernsey and, on the entire list, only the surnames Martin and Norman seem part-way common. It turned out that typical Guernsey surnames popped up 156,000 times across the country. Since then, he has mailed information packets to approximately 1,400 of the addresses he'd found. The idea behind the Guernsey Origins program is, of course, to attract more Canadian visitors to Guernsey.
Most people are naturally interested in visiting the land of their ancestors.
At the same time, the tourism department limits its involvement in the program. It has nothing to do with us at that point. The intention is quite gentle. Organizers ultimately hope to extend the project to the U.S., Australia and other countries. Meanwhile, Canada was chosen as the first target because there exist strong historical links between the two places.