Temple keepers in religious tourism development: a case in Macao

Temples are important religious sites within Chinese societies. While there is a considerable body of work on the development of religious tourism and the monastic community, little research has been conducted on the temple keeper community in Chinese folk-religion temples. Temple keepers are those who take care of daily temple operations and offer related secular services and cultural events to pilgrims and visitors. Meanwhile, they also have direct contact, communication, and interaction with visitors. It is argued that the temple keeper community plays important roles in religious tourism development. Macao, with a large number of folk temples of rich heritage value, has been chosen as the case context. Adopting qualitative research methods, this paper explores temple keepers' services and roles in Macao's temple site management and visitor experience. The study identified that temple keepers have four roles, which are temple attendant, temple representative, cultural knowledge broker, and destination ambassador. Suggestions are given for temple management and local government for adaptive strategies in cultural site management and to enrich the visitor experience in the destination.