Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and the provision of services for this act. Tourism is the most progressive earning profession in modern life. Tourism is primary a term of economic referring to an economic activity and like other economic activities, it creates a demand or provides a market for number of quite separate and varied industries. The present study deals with the “impact of tourism on the environment and urban development of Katra Vaishno Devi: A focus on the pilgrimage tourism. The tourism has positive as well negative impact on the different places of tourist interests. Each destination has its own nature and characteristics. Katra is one of the important tourist destinations of Jammu province (J&K). Both the positive and negative tourism impact on the Katra. There is rapid change in the land use pattern, most of the open and residential area are replaced by big hotels and guest houses, as in 2014 the number of pilgrimages has increased the marks of 10 million. This urban growth has led to various environmental impact on Katra and nearby villages like Kundrorian, Natali, Arlia, Nomai, Kadmal, Dhana and Sarbed etc. Apart from the negative impact some positive impact can also be noticed, like the international recognition of the pilgrim Centre, rise in living standard of local population, increase in job opportunities, good educational facilities, health facilities and exposure of the inhabitants to new technologies.
Recreation, Pilgrimage, Vaishno Devi, Impact, Positive, Katra, Economic, and Negative
