Accra, Oct. 30, GNA - Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, has said the Ministry would soon launch an integral local and international tourism promotion campaign to generate excitement and traffic for the Ghana CAN 2008 football fiesta opening next January.

He said the campaign, which would be launched in a couple of weeks, would also support the warmth of Ghana as a country using her people and galvanize support for the Black Stars.

The campaign whose implementation would be done through partnership with internal and external partners would seek to rally mass sensitization of identified publics in the hospitality industry like hotels, restaurants, chop bars, car rentals and taxi drivers.

Mr Asamoah-Boateng, speaking at the press briefing on the preparation of the tourism sector for the upcoming African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2008 to be hosted by Ghana, said under the campaign stakeholders in the hospitality industry would be required to keep their environment clean and maintain high business standards especially those in the four host cities.

He said a 90-day countdown to be launched in Kumasi on Wednesday, would be observed daily in hotels, restaurants, night clubs, chop bars, drinking bars and the media.

The Minister said production and placement of special Ghana CAN 2008 campaign materials locally and in the international media, in-flight advertising on all Accra in and out bound flights and domestic flights was expected to begin on November 1. Mr Asamoah-Boateng said there would be creation of special Ghanaian villages at the key tournament centres that would be offering everything Ghanaian - food, music, artefacts. Big carnivals in the evenings at the tournament centres for winding down and social interactions would also be catered for, he said, adding that the ministry was exploring the possibility of making those events cross cultural.

He expressed the hope that the programmes would usher a new era of tourism promotion for Ghana CAN 2008 and beyond. Reminding the public about the contributions of tourism to the economy, Mr Asamoah-Boateng said in 2005 total arrivals of 429,000 tourists provided 836 million dollars. "We intend sustaining the interest generated through the series of planned activities periodically," he said. Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, said the Ghana CAN 2008 event offered an opportunity to showcase Ghana and position Africa as a strategic sports-tourism destination and towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 30 Oct. 07