Though not yet officially launched and completed, the Regency yesterday offered the media a tour of its facilities that officials say seek to meet a "royal" standard, as the hotel name suggests.

Constructed to suit English architectural style, the Regency located on Hadfield Street, Georgetown, is a venture of Shivraj's Investments Limited, popular in Guyana for auto sales, rentals and auto services.

The building itself, General Manager Mr. Walter Sahai said, was in existence for the past 10 years and was underutilised until Shivraj's decided on stepping into the hospitality sector.

The Regency offers single rooms, as well as one and two bedroom suites with television, refrigerator, stove, and additional sofa beds for children, and more.

The top floor offers a panoramic view of Georgetown, and is the floor where a lawn tennis court, pools table and gym are located.

According to Sahai, the Regency will soon include a bar on the top floor for those who may wish a drink after a game of pool or tennis, or after a workout. The hotel's in-house restaurant also offers international cuisine, he told reporters.

While guests currently have to take the stairs of the four-storey building, he said an elevator would be installed in time for the official opening in about three months.

Director of Tourism, Ms. Tessa Fraser, congratulated the owners for venturing into the tourism and hospitality sector, saying it's always good when entrepreneurs "take the bull by the horn".

She thanked Shivraj's for "having confidence in the growth and development" of the sector and said that the industry takes it "as a vote of confidence". Fraser said that Regency means more rooms for the sector and she hopes the hotel will maintain its high standards.

Regency Manager, Ms. Doreen Humphrey, said the hotel would strive to maintain international standards practised in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Ms. Indira Anandjit, also offered the association's congratulations to the Regency and joked that she is always happy to have new members.

She also recognised that the establishment of the hotel would serve to lower frequent complaints about the shortage of rooms in Georgetown.

Sahai told a media briefing that Shivraj's sought to diversify from the auto industry because it recognises that tourism will in time replace rice, sugar and bauxite as the traditional main earners for Guyana.

He said that it was this foresight that led Shivraj's into the sector as the company saw it as "the way to go".

Sahai said the Regency caters for foreigners and is being marketed through its website and later on, hopefully, by Guyana's embassies abroad.

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manzoor Nadir, also congratulated Shivraj's for venturing into the tourism and hospitality sector, which he strongly feels is "picking up".

He said visitor arrivals dropped by five per cent last year compared with 2000, blaming this on the political climate and the collapse of the national airline GA 2000.

However, he said that in December last, 13,100 visitors came to Guyana compared with 12,800 in 2000 and the 9,000-odd who came for "Visit Guyana Year" in 1996. The minister said this was because Universal Airlines and Caribbean Star boosted air travel here following the collapse of GA 2000.

Nadir noted that Guyana maintained its two main markets, the U.S. and Europe, pointing out that the number of European visitors to Guyana increased by nine per cent. He said the Canadian market fell by 13 per cent because BWIA was the only airline flying out of Toronto and it used the opportunity to hike its prices, thus discouraging visitors.

He said visitors to Guyana from the Caribbean dropped by 4,000 last year compared with 2000, a result of the tense political climate and the sensationalisation of the crime situation here.

Nadir said the opening of the Regency is welcome and urged the hotel to maintain its high standard.

Police offer $2.5M reward for capture of escapees
THE Police Force is offering at least $2.5M for information that could lead to the arrest of the five men who broke out of jail on February 23 last, killing a Prison Officer and shooting another in the head.

Police headquarters yesterday said there was a reward of at least $500,000 on the head of each of the five prisoners who fled the Georgetown Prison.

The Force said that with assistance from other services and agencies, it was continuing an intensive search for the gang believed to have been involved in several recent car hijackings and robberies in and around Georgetown.

Those on the run are Andrew Douglas, Mark Fraser, Shawn Brown, Troy Dick and Dale Moore.

The Police said anyone wishing to respond to the reward offer can call on telephone numbers: 226-8869; 225-3650; 226-1326; 226-0449 or 226-1389.

Any information will be treated with strict confidentiality, Police headquarters assured.

The five, who killed 21-year old Prison Officer Troy Williams of Stanleytown, Berbice and left Woman Prison Officer, Roxanne Whinfield critically wounded, are all linked to the notorious `Blackie' criminal gang.

The `Blackie' ring was led by Linden `Blackie' London who was shot dead when he was cornered in a Police-Army operation in an Eccles, East Bank Demerara guest house in February 1999.