How to Boost Tourism This Halloween: 20 Self-Guided & Spooky Ideas
- Andrew Applebaum
- Sep 19
- 4 min read
The air is getting a little crisper, the days are getting shorter, and a familiar feeling is starting to creep in. For us in the tourism world, it can be a tricky time. The summer rush is gone, but the holidays feel a long way off. You’re left wondering how to keep that momentum going and create buzz during a time that often gets overlooked.
But what if you didn’t have to slow down? What if you could take a theme everyone loves, such as Halloween, and use it to create an experience that drives visitor engagement and local foot traffic? You can absolutely boost tourism this spooky season by turning what's already great about your community into a fun, self-guided adventure.
I’ve seen firsthand how a simple idea can take off. In Thunder Bay, Ontario, they took a community tradition of decorating homes for Halloween and transformed it into a digital, self-guided Haunted House Tour. The result? Over 25,000 views and a 1000% increase in engagement. It’s a powerful example of how to make a big impact with a small, clever idea.
How to Boost Tourism with Spooky Self-Guided Tours
So, how do you do it? The key is to create immersive tourism experiences that people can explore at their own pace. A self-guided tour isn't just a map; it's a story. You can use audio, video, and photos to bring local legends to life, guide visitors to spooky points of interest, and even get them to "check in" at locations to win prizes. This kind of tour storytelling makes a simple walk into an engaging narrative.
Here’s why this approach works so well:
Low Overhead: You can create and launch a tour with a small team and a modest budget, leveraging existing community assets instead of building something new.
Family-Friendly Fun: Tours can be spooky without being too scary, making them perfect for families looking for safe, outdoor Halloween activities.
Increased Engagement: By adding gamification—like scavenger hunts, contests, and rewards—you can dramatically increase visitor participation and time spent in your community.
Local Business Support: You can design your tour to drive foot traffic directly to local businesses, like candy shops, costume stores, or cafes offering seasonal treats.
20 Spooky Self-Guided & Creative Halloween Ideas
Ready to get started? Here are 20 ideas, from simple tours to full-on gamified scavenger hunts, that are perfect for Halloween.
Heritage & History
Haunted History Trail: A tour of local historical sites with a spooky past (think ghostly sightings and unexplained events).
Cemetery Stroll: A respectful tour of a historic cemetery, highlighting notable figures and unique epitaphs.
Local Folklore Tour: Tell the stories of local myths and legends, mapping out the places where they supposedly happened.
Paranormal Investigation: A tour of famously haunted buildings or sites, with audio clips of local ghost hunters or eyewitness accounts.
Family & Community
Spooky Home Decor Tour: (Just like Thunder Bay!) A digital map of homes decorated for Halloween, submitted by local residents.
Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze Tour: A guide to all the best pumpkin patches and corn mazes in your area.
Costume Shop & Candy Hunt: A tour that promotes local businesses selling costumes and Halloween treats to encourage people to shop local.
Kid-Friendly Haunted Walk: A shorter, less scary tour of a park or trail with fun, friendly ghost stories.
Arts & Culture
Gothic Architecture Tour: Highlight the spooky or mysterious elements of your city’s older buildings.
Haunted Mural & Street Art Tour: A tour of street art with eerie themes or a history of being created in spooky places.
Creepy Library Tour: A tour of a local library, highlighting its oldest books, hidden history, or ghost stories.
Spooky Theatre Tour: A self-guided look at local theatres with tales of resident ghosts or historical events.
Food & Drink
Spooky Sweet Treat Trail: A tour of bakeries, cafes, and candy stores offering Halloween-themed goodies.
Haunted Pub Crawl: A tour of historic pubs or bars with ghost stories and themed cocktails.
Witches' Brew Tour: Highlight local coffee shops or breweries with seasonal fall drinks and specialty offerings.
Events & Attractions
Haunted House Tour: Create a guide to professional haunted houses, escape rooms, or spooky attractions in your area.
Scarecrow Festival Scavenger Hunt: If your town has a scarecrow festival, turn it into a gamified hunt to find them all.
Trick-or-Treat Trail: A safe, pre-planned walking tour of businesses that are participating in community trick-or-treating.
Mystery Solved Scavenger Hunt: A fictional mystery set in your town that visitors must solve by visiting different locations and collecting clues.
Halloween Photo Op Trail: A tour of locations with the best lighting, backdrops, and decorations for social media-worthy photos.
FAQ
Q: Are these tours difficult to create?
A: With a modern digital tourism platform, it's easier than you think. You can build a simple tour in an afternoon by plotting points on a map, adding some fun photos and descriptions, and linking it all together.
Q: How do I get local businesses involved?
A: Many businesses are excited to participate, especially when it means more foot traffic. You can offer to feature them for free or give them a chance to provide a special digital coupon to tour participants. To ensure you’re doing it right, check out this guide on [best practices for engaging local businesses in tourism].
Q: What about copyright and permissions for stories?
A: Stick to well-known local legends and stories that are already in the public domain. When in doubt, partner with a local historical society or museum who can provide accurate information and permission.
Q: How do I promote a new Halloween tour?
A: Leverage your existing channels! Promote it on social media, in your newsletter, and on your website. Partner with local media and community groups. For more tips on this, a good place to start is with tourism marketing resources from Destination Canada, which offers a great overview of promotion strategies.
Halloween is a fantastic opportunity to extend your tourism season and give both visitors and locals something to talk about. By turning your town's spooky tales into an engaging, self-guided tour app experience, you can create new traditions and new memories to boost tourism well into the fall.
Ready to see how easy it is to bring your own scary good ideas to life?
Book a demo and start building your first tour today!
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