ATHENS (Reuters) - Athens reckons the outlook for tourism is less gloomy than after anti-austerity riots last month and is shifting to seek visitors from China or Japan more interested in Greece's ancient culture than its sunshine.

"I'm not saying it's going to be a good year for Greek tourism but we hope to recover many of the losses," Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos told Reuters during a promotion of Greek islands, beaches and temples.

Many foreign visitors cancelled trips after the deaths of three people, including a pregnant woman, in rioting in Athens on May 5 against government cuts imposed to secure a European Union and IMF bailout worth 110 billion euros ($136.2 billion).

At the height of the crisis, Geroulanos said Athens feared that the percentage fall in revenues from tourism — which accounts for almost a fifth of Greece's gross domestic product — "could have been in double digits" in 2010 from 2009.

"Now we hope to keep it in the low single digits," he said in an interview late on Monday night. "I'm cautious in mentioning numbers because the situation is still fluid."

He said Athens was hardest hit by cancellations, while some islands were barely affected. In an incentive, Greece would guarantee hotel costs for tourists stranded, for instance by strikes or flights grounded by ash from an Icelandic volcano.

The tourism industry had hoped to benefit from a weaker euro to stabilise revenues after a 10 percent drop in 2009. Greece's overall GDP is expected to contract by four percent this year. In a switch from dependence on European visitors, Geroulanos said that Greece wanted to attract more tourists from countries including China, India and Japan.