MTDC resumes operation of Herethere Resort

Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has resumed operation of Herethere Resort in Addu Atoll.

A member of the MTDC board revealed today that the company decided to reopen the resort to cater for incoming chartered flights from Prague announced, for 30 December. The resort has been up and running since 15 December, the board member said.

Having recorded big losses over Herethere, MTDC has been struggling to sell off the 540-bed property since June. Bidding for Herethere still remains open.

“We had plans to stay open for service during the season, until we could sell [the resort]. The purpose is to reduce the losses the company takes on when operations are down,” the member said.

He said that MTDC is trying to strike a deal to sell the property by the end of this month. The company’s chartering of flights to Addu will still continue after the sale, he said.

“The process to sell the property is ongoing. Despite that, the resort operations will still continue,” he said.

MTDC ceased operations of Herethere in June after stating that the resort was operating at loss. The company then decided to sell its most valuable asset for $30 million to Treetop Investments, a company owned by tourism magnate and entrepreneur Champa Hussain Afeef. However, following a shuffle of the company’s board of directors, MTDC had retracted its commitment to Treetop and opened the property for fresh bids.