THE historic Imperial Hotel in Murwillumbah has been sold, with the official settlement date in October.

New owners from the Tweed will take over the supposedly haunted, iconic pink pub.

Previous co-owner Tony Foran said he was waiting to hear exactly when the changeover would occur.

"It's a sensational result. The new owners are really happy with it," he said.

The accommodation section of the pub will be run by another Tweed couple.

"The new owners are locals and I know the people who will be running the hotel are nice people and have run hotels previously," Mr Foran said.

He added that he would not be moving from Murwillumbah, because "it's too good of a spot".

Mr Foran shared ownership of the hotel with brother and sister-in-law Allan and Leigh Foran.

Destination Tweed chief executive Bill Tatchell said the Imperial was definitely a tourist attraction and it had real potential to be a key Tweed drawcard.

"All of these hotels around the Tweed have a level of attraction," he said.

"I certainly know the value of historic pubs.

"Murwillumbah can gain leverage with its historic buildings and could be known by its art-deco architecture.

"It needs to recognise that opportunity."

Mr Tatchell said rum- ours surrounding the hotel's haunting had the potential to be a tourist drawcard.

"Around the world we can see money being made in ghost tourism," he said.

"There's a market in the macabre, in the ghostly and the ghastly. It's very curious."

The Imperial Hotel, built in 1931, is supposedly inhabited by the ghost of a former publican's wife, Mrs Lee, who died upstairs in Room 23 in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Bartenders, patrons and long-time Murwillumbah residents all claim to have seen and heard strange happenings at the popular watering hole.

Mr Foran said he has not seen the ghost himself, but has heard an array of interesting tales over the years.

He said he has also had guests in the hotel ask him specifically about the ghost of Room 23.