SHANGHAI/BEIJING - Several Chinese travel agencies have resumed accepting bookings for group tours to Japan, but some later halted sales after media reports on the development drew attention in China, a source close to the matter said.
Travel companies are planning and selling group tours for the July-August summer vacation season as Japan remains a popular destination among Chinese travelers, according to an industry source.
"Travel agencies can't survive (as a business) if they don't offer (Japan tours)," the source said.
The Chinese government had urged citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan following remarks last November by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Japan's potential involvement in a Taiwan contingency.
The government had also instructed major domestic travel agencies to scale back Japan-bound visa applications and reduce visitors to 60 percent of usual levels, prompting a wave of group tour cancelations and suspensions.
The state-owned China Tourism Group had offered a six-night, seven-day Japan package tour for the summer holidays with departures as early as Aug. 1, as of Friday afternoon, but it was later marked as canceled after Japanese media reports circulated in China.
