Zipline to give tourism a lift

A new attraction has officially opened at Skyline Rotorua called the Zoom Zipline. Photo/Stephen Parker

Rotorua has a new adrenaline-pumping attraction that lets people fly down the side of Mt Ngongotaha.

Yesterday, Skyline Rotorua's new gravity-ride Zoom Ziplines was opened by Rotorua MP and Associate Tourism Minister Todd McClay and Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick.

The attraction sees people ride down the mountain on a high-speed twin zipline that descends 385m before coming to a stop at the bottom.

But, finishing the ride, visitors have the choice of leaping off the side of the landing platform using Skyline's 10m Quickjump system, where people free-fall to the bottom.

Mr McClay and Mrs Chadwick jointly cut the ribbon to open the attraction after Mr McClay had a go earlier in the afternoon.

"It's really exciting and enjoyable," he said. "This is another example of why Rotorua has such a growing reputation as a tourism capital and it's only through private investment in activities such as this that we are able to retain and build on that reputation."

Skyline Rotorua general manager Bruce Thomasen said it was an exciting day.

"Although it's only taken a few months to actually build the zipline, it's been more than three years in the planning and it's fantastic to finally see the vision come to fruition for our visitors to enjoy."

Mr Thomasen said initial feedback had been very positive.

"The Zoom Zipline development fits in well with our other gravity challenging activities on site and offers a nice adrenalin rush, unlike a bungy.

"It's a further reflection of our confidence in both the local and national tourism sector," Mr Thomasen said.

The ride is a partnership between Skyline Rotorua and Canadian company Zoom Ziplines.

Zoom Ziplines owner Ron Betts said his company had designed and built systems in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

This was the first ride he had built in the South Pacific.

"It's great to be bringing the very latest adventure technology to such an iconic tourism operator in such a special place for tourism in New Zealand," he said.

For some visitors, there could be even more reason to ride the zipline as Rotorua's own member of boyband Titanium, Jordi Webber, is one of the team members helping run the attraction.