The Fish River Sun is set to re-open its doors in the next few months after the Mantis Collection took over its operation on a caretaker contract last week.
The resort outside Port Alfred closed its doors at the end of November last year but was maintained by Sun International for the past two months while ownership was being transferred to government.
Mantis Collection CEO and Founder Adrian Gardiner told AlgoaFM News that the contract with National Government was signed last month and that the resort was officially handed over to the Mantis Group on the 1st of February.
"It's always good to be involved with something in the Eastern Cape and I think we all agree that the Fish River Resort is a prime asset of the Province," said Gardiner. "So, just to put everybody in the picture; what we have now as the Mantis Group is a caretaker contract with National Government with the idea that we come up with a plan to have The Fish reopened quite soon. As most people are aware, there are two land claims on the piece of land that is the Fish River Sun and I think Government wants the time to negotiate with the claimants to see what the best possible way forward is."
Gardiner said they're looking at one or two proposals involving the Stenden Institution of Higher Education at Port Alfred with which the Mantis Group has a close association. "We have big connections at Golf Academies in the United States which are keen to come and do something here and The Fish would be ideal with its Gary Player design Golf Course. The 217 hectares of prime land on the coast is also a wildlife haven for a number of species so we are pretty excited about the future of the resort."
Gardiner said the most important thing at the moment is to protect the asset; namely the golf course and the hotel. "We have people on site and would like to be open possibly within the next three months if not sooner but on a limited scale, just to get the asset up and running again. Hopefully we will come up with a solution that's viable for the future but certainly, the idea is that it will be reopened to the public. Its a prime asset of the Eastern Cape and we'll do our best to see that it opens up as a magnificent resort again."
