Shimla, Sep 5 (IANS): Tourists can now safely travel to popular destinations like Kasauli, Shimla, Chail, Narkanda and Kinnaur as roads to these locations are open, Director, Tourism Amit Kashyap said here on Tuesday.

Likewise, Dharamsala, McLeodganj, Palampur, Dalhousie, Khajjiar and Chamba are open to commuters.

Kashyap said the tourists can currently avail discount in most of the hotels in the state.

The tourism sector is one of the major contributors in the State Gross Domestic Product (SGDP) which accounts to seven percent and also contributes around 14.42 percent direct and indirect employment to the total employment in the state.

The recent spell of heavy rains did cause disruption in some parts of the travel by road, however, with efforts of the government to restore them on a war footing, the tourists can now travel to Chamba, Kangra, Shimla and

other districts, he added.

The daily flights of Alliance Air from Delhi to Shimla and further Shimla to Dharamsala are also available, he said, adding the subsidy on the fare for all seats from Shimla-Dharamsala-Shimla is being borne by the state

government and the fare on this route has been fixed at Rs 3,000 plus taxes.

Kashyap said to facilitate the visitors, helicopter service is also being operated by Pawan Hans Ltd from Chandigarh to Shimla and further from Shimla to Rampur, Kullu, Mandi and Dharamsala under the UDAN scheme.