The Zambian government has called on tour operators from Zambia and China to operationalize the Approval Destination Status agreement signed by the two governments last year to pave the way for flowing in of Chinese tourists.

Tourism Minister Patrick Kalifungwa made the comments Tuesday while receiving a delegation from the Hong Kong-based Federation of African and Middle East Merchants.

Kalifungwa noted that outbound tourists from China exceeded 26 million in 2004 and are expected to hit 100 million by 2020.

"It is therefore important that Zambia positions herself in the Chinese market to benefit from the ever increasing number of outbound tourists," he said.

Kalifungwa urged tour operators in the two countries to form partnership to handle Chinese tourists.

There is also need for joint investment in quality hotel, exchange of information on market characteristics, exchange of experience among administrators and the private sector, and joint tourism promotion and marketing, he said.

The tourism minister said the two countries should also cooperate in the preservation of historical and cultural sites, development of arts and crafts and training of tour guides in Chinese language.

Kalifungwa said his government has identified tourism as a key sector of the economy and is currently running an awareness campaign dubbed "Visit Zambia 2005 Campaign."

He said Zambia aims to increase its tourist arrivals from the current 600,000 a year to one million by 2010.

Zambia is currently earning 152 million US dollars a year from tourism. Kalifungwa said the government aims to increase tourism industry's contribution to gross domestic product from the current 2.3 percent to 10 percent by 2010.

Source: Xinhua