•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in Buddhist spiritual tourism, there is a clear gap in the literature regarding the role of Communities of Practice (CoPs) in fostering transformative tourism experiences. This study investigates how CoPs at Plum Village retreats in France and Thailand facilitate transformative experiences and enhance mindfulness among participants in Buddhist spiritual tourism. Utilising qualitative methods, the study combines autoethnography—drawing on the lead researcher’s personal experience through daily reflexive journals—and participant observation of a focal ‘retreat family’ group of 15 participants at each retreat. Thematic analysis was applied to analyse the data, guided by two frameworks: Kirillova et al.’s (2017) transformative tourism experience and Wenger’s (1998) Community of Practices component. The findings revealed the crucial role of social connections among mindful tourists and between service providers and tourists in facilitating transformative learning and personal growth. Theoretically, by integrating CoPs into theories of transformative tourism experiences, this study extends existing knowledge and highlights the potential of global Sanghas and online networks in sustaining mindfulness practices post-retreat. Practically, it informs the design of future spiritual tourism experiences by advocating for a holistic approach that enhances well-being through meaningful social and spiritual engagement, both during and after the retreats.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/0xmr-v772

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.