Elbow Beach general manager Bill Shoaf is to quit the Rafael Hotel group completely at the end of the month.

Mr. Shoaf, who is due to leave the local resort at the end of the month, will join another hospitality company in the United States in July.

And an announcement is expected next week of his successor. The Monaco headquarters of the company's owner, Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Sultan, is due to name the manager when a work permit is finalised.

Mr. Shoaf would not reveal who he will be working for or its location in the US.

The news comes as a businessman putting together a deal for a $70 million city centre hotel warned of the negative effect of Government rows over tourism.

Mr. Shoaf was at the centre of a controversy over a Human Rights Commission probe, the delay of his work permit and a subsequent threat by Rafael to close the hotel down if it was not granted.

Mr. Shoaf resigned shortly after when it was revealed he had received death threats.

Glynn Shouldice, of T.G. International, who is in the final stages of putting together the deal for the DeVille hotel on Par-La-Ville car park, said such bad publicity filters through to close-knit investors very fast.

And he called upon the Government to counter the negative news by coming out and making their case -- and not running away from the problem.

"When you are trying to secure between $70 and $100 million, which is very skittish anyway. When you have one little blip on the radar, it can make a difference,'' he said.

"People are skittish, especially when they don't know the country.'' Hotel boss speaks out Mr. Shouldice highlighted all the positive aspects of the current situation, including projects at Daniel's Head, Belmont and Flatts, adding that the PLP should always come forward with their side to balance what people read or hear.

The DeVille Hotel, whose backers split from their initial partner Dawnay Day hotels, now has 97 percent of its funding in place, he said.

He added that an agreement was expected to be finalised within the next three weeks.

The hotel's completion date was due to be December 1999, but that has now been put back.