Zimbabwe has launched a campaign to attract tourists from China and other Asian countries, planning promotional tours in Asia and training courses in language and even Chinese cooking here.

Zimbabwe's tourism industry, once a major source of hard currency earnings, is shrinking as travellers from Australia and Europe, in particular from former colonial ruler Britain, are staying away from the southern African country.

As part of the shift to the East, Tourism Minister Francis Nhema travelled to China at the weekend to sign an agreement with Beijing granting Zimbabwe approved destination status which the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) said should "open the floodgates for Chinese visitors."

"China is recognised to be growing very fast both in terms of it generating tourist traffic and in terms of its being a destination," said ZTA spokesman Givemore Chidzidzi.

"There is a realisation that it is a vast country with a huge population. Tourism there is well structured, they travel in groups, they don't just travel anywhere, they travel to those destinations that have been approved," he said.

Promotional shows are due to take place later this year in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, among other Asian countries and tourism attaches have been appointed to embassies in the region.

Zimbabwe is also introducing language training programmes so that it can welcome the influx of Chinese visitors with Mandarin speakers.

"There is no way you can satisfy your customer if you cannot speak their language," Chidzidzi said.

"These people don't speak English and we don't expect them to speak English, but they still want to come here. Now it's for us to satisfy our customer.

"We are working on ways to make sure that our industry, and our frontline staff in general, are ready for that," he told AFP.

Training in Chinese cuisine is also on the cards.

In addition, to improve access to Zimbabwe, the country's national airline is exploring the possibility of introducing direct flights to selected Asian destinations.

Zimbabwe boasts one of the world's most spectacular natural wonders, Victoria Falls, a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Site, as well as big game reserves.

But tourists have been staying away from Zimbabwe since an economic and political crisis unleashed in 2000 with controversial elections and the land reform programme in which white farms were seized and given to landless blacks.

The government blames the slump on negative reporting by international media, tarnishing Zimbabwe's image as an appealing destination.

Annual earnings from the tourism industry dropped from $144,6-million in 1995 to $44,1-million last year. according to official figures.

Private industry officials said income from tourism fell from $700-million in 1999 to $71-million in 2003.

At its peak, tourism -- notably the falls and the game reserves --brought in about 12,5% of Zimbabwe's gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 4,5% of the labour force.

Asia last year was the biggest growth market for tourists, with 40% more foreign travellers coming to Zimbabwe than in 2003, mostly from China, India and Japan.

Nearly 41 000 Asian tourists visited Zimbabwe last year, up from 29 075 in 2002.

A special tourism police unit has also been set up to increase the safety of tourists at all destinations. - Sapa-AFP