Agencies extend ban on tours to Japan

Five big travel agencies which have stopped running tours to Japan have extended their ban on tours until the end of next month in response to the worsening nuclear crisis there. Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung named the agencies as Wing On, Hong Tai, MorningStar, Miramar and Sunflower Travel. Japan on Tuesday raised the severity of its nuclear crisis from level five to seven, the same as the 1986 Ukrainian Chernobyl disaster.