Marketing your tours for Halloween: Ideas to drive more bookings

Halloween isn’t just for haunted houses and costume contests. For tour operators, it’s one of the most profitable times of year to capture new audiences and create memorable themed experiences.

At TransWorld 2025, the leading expo for haunted attractions and seasonal events, operators shared how demand for immersive, fall-themed experiences continues to grow. Customers are looking for more than just a scare; they want high-quality, well-run events that feel unique and worth booking early.

Whether you operate a ghost tour, a family-friendly pumpkin patch, or a year-round adventure, Halloween is your chance to maximize visibility, drive bookings, and turn seasonal travelers into returning customers.

1. Launch early-bird Halloween promotions

The earlier you market your Halloween experiences, the more likely you are to capture excited customers before their calendars fill up. Early-bird campaigns don’t just generate revenue sooner; they also help you forecast demand and staff appropriately.

Offer discounted presale tickets or limited-time bundles for those who book in September. Creative promo codes like SPOOKY10 or BOO2025 make your campaign memorable, while also reinforcing the seasonal theme.

Don’t forget to tap into group bookings. Families, schools, and corporate teams are often searching for Halloween activities, and a group discount or private event option can turn a single sale into dozens of bookings. 

You can adapt many of the same tactics from our Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign article to create urgency and maximize conversions.

Pro tip: Create urgency by adding a countdown timer or “only X tickets left” message on your website or booking page to encourage quicker conversions.

2. Host a Halloween event or festival

Halloween is one of the best times to expand beyond your regular tours and create a one-time or recurring event that becomes a local tradition. From haunted hayrides to pumpkin festivals or masquerade parties, a dedicated Halloween event can draw in new customers while giving your returning customers a reason to come back.

Start by marketing your event well in advance. Even if your festival is already popular in your area, announcing the date early helps secure bookings from families and travelers planning their fall calendars. 

Local SEO is key to reaching both residents and visitors. Optimize your event pages with terms like “Halloween events near [your city]” to capture local search traffic. 

When building out the experience, think about both spooky and family-friendly audiences. Pair scarier attractions with lighter activities like food vendors, live music, or pumpkin decorating. 

3. Partner with other operators through FHDN and combos

Halloween is a prime time to collaborate with other operators in your area. By creating package deals or cross-promotions, you can reach new audiences and give customers a more complete experience.

With the FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN), you can connect with fellow operators and resellers to list your Halloween tours alongside complementary activities.

You can also leverage FareHarbor Combos to bundle your own activities or cross-sell with partners. 

Examples that work well during Halloween include:

• A haunted walking tour paired with a local brewery’s fall tasting.
• A ghost cruise bundles with a neighborhood pumpkin festival.
• A hayride combined with a corn maze and bonfire ticket.

Pro tip: Look for partners who share your Halloween audience but don’t directly compete. That way, both businesses benefit from broader exposure.

4. Add seasonal twists and upsells to boost revenue

You don’t need to run a haunted house to take advantage of Halloween. Even small touches can make your tours feel timely and give customers more reasons to book. 

Add atmosphere with pumpkins or lanterns, weave local ghost stories into your tours, or encourage guests to arrive in costume with a small prize as an incentive.

These themed details set the stage for upsells. With FareHarbor’s custom field add-ons, you can offer seasonal extras directly in the booking flow, such as:

• Glow sticks for night tours
• Hot cider or caramel apples
• VIP tickets with front-of-line access
• Bundled experiences (hayride + corn maze + bonfire)
• Gift cards marketed as a “Halloween surprise.”

Pro tip: Use FareHarbor reporting tools to track which upsells perform best and feature them again next year.

5. Streamline your Halloween operations

Halloween often brings larger crowds and tighter schedules, so smooth operations are essential. With FareHarbor tools, you can keep check-in lines short, payments simple, and guest experiences seamless.

• QR code ticketing: Speed up entry by scanning tickets directly from the FareHarbor app.
• Tap to Pay on iPhone: Let customers pay quickly with just a tap, no extra hardware required.
• Custom booking forms: Collect essential details like age verification for scarier tours or consent for costume contests. You can also add fields for merchandise or food add-ons to increase revenue.
• Offline mode: Keep check-ins running smoothly even in remote areas with weak Wi-Fi.

When you highlight these operational features in your marketing, you’re not only improving efficiency, you’re also building trust with your customers by showing them the booking process will be easy from start to finish.

Pro tip: Use capacity and manifest tools in your Dashboard to keep track of larger groups and avoid bottlenecks during peak entry times.

6. Create Halloween-themed content campaigns

With your promotions, events, and logistics set, the final step is making sure customers see them. Focus your campaigns on the channels that drive the most bookings — your website, email list, and social media.

• Website:  Create a seasonal landing page with clear calls to action to book early.
• Email: Segment your list so families see kid-friendly options, while adults see haunted or after-dark tours.
• Social media: Share behind-the-scenes setup, run a costume contest, or spotlight guest stories in real time.

Pro tip: Schedule your posts and emails ahead of time. That way, you can focus on delivering a great experience during your busiest Halloween weekends.

Make this Halloween your most successful yet

Halloween comes once a year, but it’s one of the biggest opportunities to grow bookings, increase revenue, and create experiences that keep customers coming back. 

By planning early promotions, building seasonal events, streamlining logistics with FareHarbor tools, and marketing with purpose, you’ll set your business apart in one of the busiest months of the year.

Don’t let October slip by without a plan. Put these strategies into action now and position your tours for record results.

Discover how FareHarbor can help you power your busiest season — book a free demo today.