Exploring the restorative benefits of spiritual retreats: the case of clergy retreats in Australia

ABSTRACT

Despite being one of the oldest forms of tourism, religious tourism is a growing and increasingly diverse sector. Spiritual retreat tourism is one type of religious tourism that has been found to have a range of benefits for participants, particularly in relation to restorative benefits such as rest and recovery of cognitive capacity. This mixed-methods study applies Attention Restoration Theory to explore the ways in which participants of spiritual retreats attain restorative outcomes, and to investigate whether different types of retreats result in different benefits. The analysis of data from 152 clergy who participated in spiritual retreats in Australia demonstrated that restoration was a key outcome, amongst other benefits. The practical implications of the findings for both organisers and attendees of spiritual retreats are discussed, and a research agenda for future exploration of the value of retreats is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious tourism
• spiritual retreats
• attention restoration theory
• restorative benefits
• reflection

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Chelsea Gill is currently completing her PhD at the University of Queensland which explores the restorative impacts of spiritual retreats for religious workers. She is a Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Queensland Business School. Chelsea has a background in event and hospitality management and has previously completed a Bachelor of Business Management and Master of Arts (Leadership). Her research interests include religious tourism, mental restoration, clergy well-being and visitor experience.

Jan Packer is Associate Professor and a Principal Research Fellow at the University of Queensland Business School, Australia. Jan's research focuses on applying principles from educational, environmental and positive psychology to understand and improve visitor experiences at natural and cultural tourism attractions such as museums, zoos and aquariums, botanic gardens, national parks, ecotourism and wildlife tourism attractions. She has a special interest in the quality of life outcomes of museum visits, and tourism and leisure more broadly.

Roy Ballantyne is Research Professor at the University of Queensland Business School, Australia. His research focuses on environmental education, environmental interpretation, free-choice environmental learning, wildlife tourism and ecotourism research. He is the joint author of Contemporary Issues in Heritage and Environmental Interpretation and Designing Effective Interpretive Signs and Exhibits: Principles in Practice and joint editor of the International Handbook on Ecotourism.

ORCID

Chelsea Gill http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9001-5593

Jan Packer http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2250-1175