China's Trip.com pours $500m into tourism recovery fund

TOKYO -- China's Trip.com Group has created a $500 million fund to help airlines, hotels and other partners rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, as the online travel group aims to spur an international tourism revival to echo signs of recovery in its home market.

Jane Sun, CEO of the group, told the Nikkei Asian Review in a recent interview that new ways of engaging with customers and promoting products could help restore confidence, though some industry experts expect that travel demand will remain low even after the virus subsides, and that recovery in the sector will be slow.