With nearly one crore pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine this year, a hoteliers' body today pitched for developing infrastructure to divert the visitors to other tourist spots in the region to boost J-K's economy.

"The arrivals for Vaishno Devi pilgrimage that concluded yesterday crossed the one crore mark. But we regret that full benefits of such a large number of pilgrims visiting the state are not being achieved," President of All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association (AJHLA) Indrejeet Khajuria told reporters. "The result is that while there is an unmanageable rush during the peak yatra period at Katra, the hotels and lodges in Jammu remain almost empty," he said.

The Association demanded taking up concrete steps to promote border tourism at Suchetgarh, Chamlial and in entire border belt in Jammu by creating necessary infrastructure. It has also demanded speedy development of Ambaran Buddhist site and Jio-Pota heritage spot on the banks of Chenab near Akhnoor to attract tourists.

If these steps are taken, the Vaishnodevi pilgrims will be automatically attracted to visit these spots and full benefit of the heavy yatra rush will be achieved, he observed. He said the link road from Samba to Mansar should be developed at the earliest and other steps should be taken to promote tourism at twin lakes of Surinsar and Mansar.

The Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex, artificial lake at river Tawi, laying of cable car between Mubarak Mandi to Bahu Fort and Mohammaya Hill Top are still a distant dream, he said, adding the environment park at Jammu bypass is also facing utter neglect.