ABSTRACT
Temple stay is a creative form of religious tourism in Korea that offers an authentic local experience at a Buddhist temple. This study is to describe the experiences of international participants during their overnight temple stay. Based on field research with in-depth interviews, this study result indicates that participants regarded temple stay as a multicultural retreat in a religious and therapeutic setting to promote their ultimate wellbeing. In the intersection of culture, religion, and tourism, this study offers a framework to understand the essence of temple stay experience to modern individuals based on the Mandala of Health model.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.