Srinagar,  To cater to growing footfall of tourists to Kashmir valley, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration is committed to make availability of 50,000 rooms for the increasing demand of accommodation through the 'Homestay' initiative.

This was announced by J&K Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta while inaugurating a homestay cluster at Srinagar's Jharokha Bagh on Tuesday.

Maintaining that tourism has grown manifold in J&K during 2022 as compared to 2021, Mehta said that the benefits of this bumper arrival of tourists to the Valley should trickle down to all, especially locals of various tourist destinations.

"In order to cater this growing footfall of tourists, the Union Territory administration is encouraging, guiding and handholding local population at various tourist destinations for the Homestay initiative," Mehta added while interacting with one of a proprietor of homestay cluster at Jharokha Bagh village overseeing Manasbal Lake.

He hoped that nearly 50,000 rooms would be made available through the Homestay initiative across the various tourist destinations for which 75 locations have already been identified in other districts of J&K.

"This is just a beginning," he reaffirmed and added that a lot of people from outside J&K are willing to visit it and the Homestay initiative would send a positive message to them to visit this beautiful place.

Railway is coming and there is better road and air connectivity now for Kashmir, people will definitely throng Kashmir in huge numbers for its beauty, he added.