Travel agencies have begun accepting reservations for subsidized trips to three central Japan prefectures under a government tourism campaign to support areas affected by the powerful New Year's Day earthquake that rocked the Noto Peninsula.
Tours to Niigata, Toyama and Fukui prefectures sold out on a host of websites soon after the start Friday, displaying robust demand for the campaign.
Nippon Travel Agency started accepting reservations for trips to Toyama and Niigata online at 11 a.m. — with those selling out within 20 minutes.
Kinki Nippon Tourist's products to Toyama and Niigata sold out online at around 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively, after the reservations opened at 10 a.m.
JTB started sales of trips to Fukui at an outlet in the prefecture, with a company official saying that many reservations had already been filled.
Sanyanagitei, a ryokan Japanese-style inn featuring a hot spring in Kurobe, Toyama, received a rush of phone calls after reservations opened up at 10:30 a.m. All slots had been filled by around noon.
"We're grateful for many people supporting us," an employee said.
As part of the campaign, JTB will launch online sales of trips to Niigata and Toyama on Tuesday, when ANA X, a unit of ANA Holdings, is scheduled to launch tour plans under the campaign.
Reservations will open on Tuesday for trips to Ishikawa Prefecture, the hardest hit by the quake.