Search Results (5)

Templestay programs in South Korea represent a unique convergence of Buddhist ritual, cultural immersion, and wellness tourism. While often treated as niche cultural experiences, their broader significance within sustainable wellness tourism remains underexplored. This study examines participant reflections from the Beomeosa Templestay program through thematic analysis of over 600 reviews sourced from TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and handwritten guestbooks. Using a triangulated framework combining Grounded Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and the Wellness Tourism Model, the research identifies four recurring experiential themes: spiritual development, emotional healing, cultural immersion, and conscious consumption. Findings reveal cross-cultural variations: non-Korean participants emphasized spiritual exploration and cultural learning, while Korean participants prioritized emotional renewal and reconnection with heritage. Yet, across all groups, participants reported transformative outcomes, including heightened clarity, inner calm, and enhanced self-awareness. These results suggest that Templestays serve as accessible, culturally grounded wellness retreats that align with rising global demand for intentional, mindful travel. This study contributes to sustainable tourism scholarship by framing Templestays as low-impact, spiritually resonant alternatives to commercialized wellness retreats. Practical recommendations are offered to expand participation while maintaining program authenticity and safeguarding the spiritual and cultural integrity of monastic hosts in an increasingly globalized wellness landscape. Full article

While the trend of de-religiousization has accelerated globally, Korean Buddhism has become very hip around the world. While it was traditionally known as a symbol of a solemn and old religion, with its innovative transformation, Korean Buddhism has gained wide popularity in friendly and trendy atmospheres, especially among people in their 20s and 30s in Korea and abroad, regardless of religion. Thus, Korean Buddhism has a cultural affinity beyond religion, nationality, age, and gender. At the center of this popularization of Buddhism, there exists “Templestay”. Templestay is defined as staying in a Korean temple and experiencing traditional Korean culture, the spirit of Buddhist practice, the natural environment, and the daily life of temples. Templestay was selected as one of the world’s top five most successfully developed tourism and cultural resources by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and one of the top 10 icons representing Korea according to the Republic of Korea’s Presidential Council on Nation Branding. Thus, Templestay is not just a Buddhist cultural experience but has been officially recognized as a sustainable global cultural product representing Korea with a history of 1700 years, where a global cultural product is defined as a cultural product that is shared on a global level. Considering Templestay’s wide global popularity, as well as its significant impact on the national economy, tourism, and cultural succession, with over 7 million participants, it is important to investigate Templestay from the perspective of sustainable management, such as CSR, CSV, and ESG. However, while a few studies exist on Templestay, the theoretical aspects of Templestay as a subject of sustainable management have not been sufficiently developed, since most research on Templestay has focused on the perspectives of religion or visitor experiences. Thus, by focusing on Manggyeongsansa Templestay, which was selected as one of the best Korean temples among the 150 temples offering Templestay in 2023, the findings from this case study provide significant implications and practical guidelines for the sustainable management of global cultural products to address fundamental issues from an angle that has not been covered sufficiently. Full article

Templestay is a Korean program where participants have the chance to stay in a Buddhist temple and explore the historic buildings, statues, and natural surroundings of the temple grounds, while experiencing meditation and Buddhist rituals first-hand. Launched in 2002, approximately six million participants have attended Templestay programs over the last 20 years. However, in contrast to the great successes during the first ten years of the program’s existence, the last ten years have met with a significant decline in rates of participation. The aim of this article is to investigate the rise and fall in these figures to better understand the current wants and needs of participants and to consider the future of the Templestay program. Through an analysis of statistics garnered by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism and a review of research studies on the growth and development of Templestay, this article considers why the program has recently been in decline and suggests how this may be remedied. Particular attention is given to how the needs of diverse participants can be met within a religious environment. In the conclusion, this article suggests that the number of participants may be increased with the implementation of programs more universally applied across all Templestay sites. Furthermore, critical concerns about over-commercialization are warranted insofar as marketing compromises the sense of authenticity sought by participants. Full article

Achieving the three pillars of sustainable tourism development has long been debated in the literature. This study revealed that sustainability and productivity are not mutually exclusive, analyzing Templestay as part of Korea’s 1700-year-old cultural heritage. The study discussed the challenging case of fulfilling triple-bottom-line sustainable social, environmental, and economic requirements in tourism development. Templestay has enormous potential to be one of the competitive tourism products as a cultural resource, attracting visitors to local areas. The prosperity and potentiality of Templestay may offer insightful contexts to bridge the gap between a sustainable philosophy and destination productivity. The study suggests further research to investigate tourism’s ontological and epistemological nature in terms of sustainability and productivity. Full article

This study delineated the templestay experience in the context of the authenticity of tourism. To understand the phenomenon of templestay experience, the study applied the hermeneutic phenomenology method. Furthermore, the researcher tried to approach the experience with an open perspective in observing essential meanings and lived phenomena. From the hermeneutic guide, the study discovered “structure of perceptions (situation, emotion, thought, action),” “perceptual experiences (rational experience, sentimental experience, judgmental experience, experimental experience),” and “experiential authenticity (superficial authenticity, situational authenticity, relational authenticity, space-time authenticity, existential authenticity)” from the lived templestay experience and developed a “descriptive model of the integrative phenomenon of templestay experience.” This study suggests the possibility of discovering new phenomena by expanding the boundaries of the perceptions of the authentic experience of tourism. Full article