The hospitality industry is leaning into haunted tourism

Spooky season may be over, but Americans’ interest in the paranormal certainly isn’t. Haunted hotels are capitalizing on this trend, offering year-round ghost tours, psychic readings, and more in an effort to drive traffic in an increasingly competitive market.

• The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining, offers everything from seances to ghost hunts to sessions with paranormal experts.
• The Gifford House in Massachusetts hosts psychic and tarot card readings in their lobby. Guests are told to look out for the ghost of a shirtless cowboy downstairs at the bar.
• Since 2018, Historic Hotels of America has released an annual list of its top 25 most haunted historic hotels. The list has turned into one of the organization’s most popular website pages.

A big business: Haunted tourism falls under the umbrella of dark tourism, which typically spans destinations associated with death and tragedy. The dark tourism industry is currently valued at ~$32 billion, but could surpass $40 billion by 2034.

⚰️ Americans love death. Look no further than true crime: From 2019–2022, true crime podcasts saw a 66% increase in regular listeners. And more broadly, 84% of the US population aged 13+ now consumes true crime-related content through any medium – TV, YouTube, social media, or podcasts.