A high-profile mission of Tourism New Zealand is in Shanghai this week to launch a "pure New Zealand" campaign in a bid to attract local tourists.

　　The nationwide campaign invol-ves selecting some 1,200 tourism professionals from 285 Chinese tra-vel agencies to take part in a training program in a comprehensive exploration of the natural and cultural wonders of New Zealand.

　　"We will impress upon them the core beauty of New Zealand, so that they can transfer the information effectively and correctly to Chinese people, who may be interested in our country," George Hickton, CEO of Tourism New Zealand, told Shanghai Daily on Monday.

　　New zealand is as yet not a top choice for locals seeking overseas trips, and most of them see it as an appendage to a visit to Australia.

　　According to Yu Weihua, a vice president of the Shanghai China Travel Service, more than 1,000 locals visited New Zealand through his agency last year, but most joined the 12-day package, including Australia and New Zealand.

　　Yu is excited about the new cam-paign. "We are active in introducing New Zealand to our clients, because of its unique landscape and culture."

　　The campaign is expected to raise the number of Chinese mainland visitors to New Zealand to 200,000 annually in three years. In 2002, 80,000 Chinese travelled to the country, Hickton said.

　　Travel agency managers pointed to the comparatively high price for the tour. According to Yu, the 12-day package costs about 16,000 yuan (US,928) while the 8-day package costs 12,000 yuan. He said it is hard to lower the price because of limited flights to New Zealand, which numbered only 8,000 last year.