Possibilities for paranormal tourism development in Serbia

Abstract

This paper aims to identify possibilities for paranormal tourism development in Serbia and to determine domestic tourists' interest in participating in paranormal tourism. Paranormal places and bizarre rituals have been defined as potential paranormal tourism localities and events. Paranormal tourism is one of the new forms of special interest tourism. It is evident that paranormal tourism is a result of the expansion of other related types of tourism, such as dark tourism, ghost tourism, spiritual tourism, cultural tourism, ethnological tourism, new age tourism and pilgrimage tourism. It is defined by tourists' interest in topics which challenge realist ontologies and representational epistemologies. The present study examines responses from 405 Serbia residents (potential tourists). After using descriptive statistics, Independent Samples T-Test and ANOVA, the study finds that potential tourists are interested in visiting certain paranormal places, and there is a possibility to develop this type of tourism in Serbia. The current work is the first study of paranormal tourism in Serbia and one of the few studies in the world.