Ghost Tours as a Form of Alternative Tourism 18 pages
This article looks at Ghost tourism in all the different dimensions and names. It often refers to a historic place as an important part of the experience, Port Arthur comes to mind here in Tasmania and only concentrates on the older inhabitants and not the more recent murders. Staff will quickly divert back to their tour guidelines if customers inquire, as recent history (twenty years ago) is considered inappropriate. Willow Court closed 16 years ago.
Below is the conclusion, however the full document is an interesting read of what people expect during such experiences. One of the papers that the Derwent Valley Council instigated with Government funds stated that this shouldn’t be an area of activity at this site based on the fact that there was a huge amount of competition in this limited market and even more limited in the paranormal enthusiast market.
CONCLUSIONS
I found that the presence of a historic perspective plays an important role in ghost tours, in several ways. Quite often, ghost tour guides, ghost hunters, and paranormal organizations are aligned with historical societies. Guides have also expressed an interest in history, rooted in their formative years. A historic background is considered crucial to paranormal investigations. The research and use of historic narratives gives a face to haunted happenings; alternatively, it can serve to debunk some reported hauntings (e.g., older buildings have faulty wiring, creaking walls, etc.). History is also an important part of storytelling, contributing to hauntings’ narratives. Also, historically inspired costumes may be said to add to tours’ immersive quality. By extension, tour participants are becoming a part of the sites’ history; their experiences during the tour give them an embodied sense of history, especially when they have their own stories to add to the tour. In addition to other aspects shared with mainstream tourism, such as sightseeing, escapism and entertainment value, ghost tour participants are interested in the presentation of historical information during tours. Ghost hunters share common interests with ghost tour guides and participants, but they encounter potentially haunted places in an alternative way, emphasizing freedom of space, indepth information, and a sense of community among fellow group members.