Shanghai authorities on Wednesday lifted a ban for some travel agencies on selling group tours to Korea, bringing the number of Chinese regions that now permit them again to five. The others are Beijing, Chongqing, Shandong Province and Wuhan.

The Chinese government instituted an unofficial boycott of Korean products and services last year after the U.S. stationed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in Korea.

Tourist numbers from China are already rebounding, and the industry hopes that other regions will follow suit.

According to travel agencies in China and Korea on Thursday, the Shanghai city government allowed four travel agencies there to sell group tour tickets to Korea and apply for group visas without prior permission from the China National Tourism Administration.