Bolgatanga, (U/E) Oct 4, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari on Thursday called on people of the region to make adeqaute preparations for the Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nation tournament.

"A good number of visitors will come to this region and we need to upgrade our hospitality services and to prepare our tourists sites for such visitors", he said.

Mr Samari was speaking at a gathering of sports fans in Bolgatanga after the Ghana 2008 Road Show to introduce the trophy to the people of the region.

He said even though the town was not going to host the tournament, it could accommodate some of the visitors who would come to the Tamale venue and shares borders with the Upper East Region and therefore urged them to start preparing hotels and restaurants to meet demand.

Captain (RTD) Andrew Sam, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations, asked the people of Bolgatanga to show the traditional Ghanaian hospitality and accommodate teams that they would like to lend their support during the tournament.

He said the tournament would bring unity, peace and a lot of business opportunities to a cross section of the population. The Deputy Operating officer revealed that tickets for the tournament would be colour-coded and numbered to facilitate sitting arrangement.

The Road Show is being organised by the Tamale Venue Organising Committee (TVOC) to sensitize the Region and its neighbours about the Tournament, outdoor the trophy and encourage the people to patronize the games.