Booking.com recently released their 2027 travel predictions, which included a bone-chilling statistic perfect for this season: Almost two-thirds of surveyed travelers (65%) expressed interest in traveling to destinations “that feature horror, gothic, or thriller-centric experiences.” This desire to be frightened reflects what behavioral scientist Coltan Scrivner referred to in a 2023 Scientific American article as “scary play”—an evolutionary response that allows people to rehearse their responses to frightening events in real life.
As Halloween approaches, we thought we’d take a deeper look at the appeal of “paranormal tourism,” where travelers visit places known for uncanny apparitions, haunting experiences and brutal histories. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the key motivations for this type of travel and share how destinations can leverage their own folklore and local partners to attract travelers seeking all things spooky.
Travel and the Paranormal
The connection between travel and the supernatural is a long and (literally) storied one. In fact, two of the most beloved fictional monsters had their origins in a single trip. When Lord Byron rented the Villa Diodati in Switzerland in 1818, terrible weather forced him and his guests to spend the days indoors, trading stories of terror—one of those stories became Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein, while another became the first English-language vampire story. Not bad for a vacation rental!
There’s a natural alignment between exploring a new destination and exploring the realms beyond, which has driven people to visit reportedly haunted spots for centuries. From ghost tours to ruined castles, historic battlefields to trails and bridges where ghostly apparitions have been reported, we’ve long been fascinated by the places and stories that hint at a world beyond what we can perceive.
And these stories have translated into a billion-dollar entertainment industry, with movies like the Conjuring series and television shows like Supernatural following the adventures of traveling ghost and demon hunters as they traverse the world in search of hauntings. In the social media sphere, paranormal investigation content creators like Ryan Bergara (@ryanbergara on Instagram) and Sam and Colby (@samandcolby on Instagram) boast thousands of followers and millions of impressions per year.
It’s no surprise that travelers want to have their very own ghost-hunting adventure, and as the experts on your destination, DMOs are perfectly poised to give them just that.
How to Showcase Your Destination’s Supernatural Side
Here are some best practices for destinations looking to get in on the trend for paranormal exploration:
Be Authentic
Not every destination has a ruined castle or abandoned asylum—but that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of the supernatural. Every destination has its own folklore, history and stories, and your job is to find them and bring them to life, even if that’s life after death.
If you’re not sure what types of paranormal experiences can be found in your destination, consider working with local cultural groups, like historical associations, to find out more about your destination’s iconic apparitions or scary folktales.
Feature Your Local Partners
Many of the best haunted experiences center on buildings: hotels, restaurants, pubs and historic homes. Your local partners can be fantastic resources as you build out the paranormal landscape of your destination—and you’ll have the opportunity to amplify their offerings as well.
Whether it’s the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, or the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (the real-life inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining), the buildings that experience iconic hauntings serve as huge draws for visitors, who might choose a destination based on proximity to these locations. On the other hand, travelers are always on the lookout for hidden gems, and haunted sites are no exception; as the DMO, you can showcase partners whose ghostly reputations are less widespread, giving guests unexpected thrills and benefiting these local attractions.
Leverage Your Owned Channels
Your website and social media accounts are ideal ways to share supernatural stories. These could include interactive maps of “haunted” locations, short-form social video of key attractions or blog posts about the real histories behind local folklore.
You can also integrate the content into your website’s existing trip-planning tools. New Orleans & Company’s website features a page on the city’s world-famous ghostly apparitions, with links to easily add the hotels, restaurants and attractions on the page to their trip-planner. This allows visitors to move seamlessly from inspiration to booking when the spirit moves them (pun intended).
Highlight Accessible and Family-Friendly Paranormal Activities
Spooky fun can be for everyone, and indicating which experiences in your destination are perfect for all ages or activity levels will ensure that your content reaches fans of the supernatural across all segments. Clarifying which activities are appropriate for which travelers on your website or in your email marketing will give your audiences the information they need to plan their next ghostly adventure.
Your local haunted attractions might offer multiple events, some more family-friendly than others; for example, they might do a kid-friendly daytime tour and an adults-only nighttime activity. Destination Salem has ensured its witchy heritage is fit for the whole family, spotlighting kid-appropriate themed activities on their own page.
Make the Content Interactive
Themed passports, digital badges, social media challenges and interest-specific newsletters can be great ways to connect you with potential and past visitors who are passionate about the supernatural. For example, the West Virginia Paranormal Trail, managed by West Virginia Tourism, features a digital pass where visitors can check in when they visit each location on the interactive map. As they visit more locations, they become eligible to win prizes. This gamified approach deepens engagement among visitors and residents and encourages extended or return visits.
These initiatives can also allow you to gather first-party data for your email marketing and other campaigns. You can add an email sign-up to a digital passport or a special “ghost-hunting” edition of your travel guide, or you can bring a spooky-themed activation to key markets, with a prize raffle for a ghost tour or other experiences offered by local partners.
Consider Right-Fit Influencers
If you find a particularly compelling story about your destination—like a haunted house with decades of history or a key historical figure said to walk the streets in spectral form—you might expand your initiative by enlisting content creators who specialize in all things supernatural. These figures often have dedicated follower bases and can introduce your destination to a wider audience.
It’s crucial to find the right content creator, one who shares your organization’s values and priorities and who is dedicated to showcasing what makes your destination unique. It’s the alignment between you and your chosen creator that ensures the content they create on your behalf resonates with the types of audiences you want to attract, whether you’re looking for families, weekday visitors, arts-and-culture aficionados or foodies.
With a compelling story, authentic details and the right marketing channels, your destination can become an appealing choice for visitors seeking to channel the spirits and enjoy some harmless haunted fun.
