Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

This paper will explore the phenomenon of pilgrimage tourism in the perspective of Vaishno Devi Shrine to boost the rural tourism in Jammu region. The aim of this study is to determine, how a pilgrimage destination is helping to promote nearby rural tourism centers, and the opportunities, issues, and challenges faced by the tourist and intermediaries. Tourism makes an enormous contribution to local economies through job creation. Tourism in the state has led to the development of the whole service industry including transport, hospitality, camping retail shops, horticulture and in the small scale sectors by generating employment. This sector provides employment to a large number of people and generated economic activities especially in the tertiary sectors. The methodology in this paper includes site observation of five home stay villages in Jammu region of J&K state surrounding Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and extensive literature review. The infrastructural issues in rural sites of surrounding villages across Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine are dealt with in this paper, and it also covers the emerging challenges in rural tourism promotion in this region and diverts the pilgrimage towards rural tourism.