Taiwan's temple culture has long been integrated into the daily lives of the people, and temple management is important for social stability and cultural heritage. However, the management of temples is mostly executed by seniors with social prestige or local influences, and many of them do not have a professional management background. Due to the lack of systematic knowledge and ability, differences of opinion often lead to disputes or decision problems. Therefore, this study explores the key success factors for the operation management of temples in Taiwan, and comparing perspectives from the temple managers with visitors. The temple operator questionnaire is analyzed by the hierarchical analysis method (AHP). The results of the operators indicate that the rank of five key success factors for temple management in Taiwan are (1) Social responsibility practices. (2) Institutional norms establishment. (3) Financial resources stability (4) Intangible assets of the temple, and (5) Service object identification. The visitor perspectives indicate that for service objects, both "community residents" and "tourists" have a significant positive correlation with the visiting times. In addition, "System norms", "Activity planning", “Financial resources”, and “Volunteer recruiting” have significant and positive correlations with the visiting times; however, "Social responsibility" has a significant negative correlation with the visiting times. The study proposes suggestions for temple operators based on the research findings to recognize the key success factors of temple operations and management.
