Tmap Mobility said on Thursday that demand for visits to Buddhist temples has been rising for three consecutive years based on its driving data analysis. It analysed the top 1,000 destinations from 2023 to 2025 and found that temple destination settings last year rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier. That was up 55.9 percent from 2023. The company said the so-called "hip Buddhism" boom was also clearly seen in mobility data.

The temple most often set as a destination by Tmap users last year was Bulguksa. Naksansa, Tongdosa, Haedong Yonggungsa and Bomunsa ranked second to fifth, followed by Boriam, Hyuhyuam, Haeinsa, Hyangilam and Sudeoksa. The inclusion of many temples familiar to tourists who are not Buddhists suggests travel demand for non-religious purposes also rose, it said.

Participation in temple experience programmes is also increasing. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism under the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism said last year temple-stay participants at 158 temples nationwide totalled 349,219. That shows the pool of visitors coming to temples as an overnight cultural experience is expanding.

Interest in Buddhist cultural events is also increasing. The 2025 Seoul International Buddhism Expo held in April drew more than 200,000 visitors over four days, the largest on record. During the expo period, destination settings for COEX rose 4.1 percent from the previous week and were 77 percent higher than the week after the expo ended.

A Tmap Mobility official said the steady rise in temple visits shows Buddhist culture is seeping into everyday life beyond the boundaries of religion. The official said the company would continue to analyse changing lifestyles and social trends from various perspectives through driving data.