“It offers a completely new way for locals and visitors to experience Auckland’s most recognisable landmark.
“We’ve been challenging people to do the things they didn’t know they could do. SkyRide is our latest innovative way of doing this.”
AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand co-founder and managing director Henry van Asch (left) and Tourism New Zealand chief executive Rene de Monchy get ready to test SkyRide. Photo / Tom Raynel
SkyRide took three years to produce from conceptualisation to reality, and features roughly 60 sensors to control all aspects of the experience.
Van Asch said several hundred people had tested the experience as part of its commissioning, with hundreds more trial runs using weights and dummies.
The new multi-mode system has been certified and inspected by WorkSafe under the Amusement Device Regulations for New Zealand.
As for why the tourism operator created the ride, van Asch said the technology behind the original SkyJump offering is roughly 50 years old.
While it was effective, the team wondered whether they could create something better.
“We started working on it with our team to start conceptualising it and wondering what we wanted to achieve.
“What do we want to achieve mechanically? What do we want to achieve in people’s hearts, minds and bodies?
“When you start to interlay all of those things, there’s a lot more texture to it.”
An interesting aspect of the new multi-mode system is that it’s scalable and commercially viable, allowing for other landmark towers to become adventure tourism destinations, giving it global potential.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Rene de Monchy was in attendance for the product’s launch and said it was fantastic to see the innovation within the tourism sector.
“Tourism is crucially important to New Zealand and we always talk about finding your 100% pure New Zealand.
“We want people to come and have experiences in New Zealand and this is a really exceptional product,” de Monchy said.
“This is great for Auckland, and it’s great for New Zealand to have these sorts of experiences. We share the promise of New Zealand, but it’s AJ Hackett that actually delivers the magic on the ground.”
Van Asch said the business already worked with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and had been looking at opportunities globally.
“We’ve intended to be more in New Zealand, but we’ve been looking at things in other parts of the world and that’s another exciting part of the company’s evolution,” van Asch added.
Van Asch couldn’t confirm how much the business had invested in the new technology but said innovation was expensive.
It’s now been nearly 40 years since AJ Hackett and van Asch founded the business, but the latter said he still has as much passion for it.
When they launched in 1988, people thought the business was founded to chase adrenaline, but he was more focused on the technical approach behind the scenes.
“AJ really early on cracked on to the humanistic approach to it, but I always had much more of a mechanical approach. Over time I’ve really come to love the effect that bungy has and the challenge it gives people.
“That’s a really big part of our team as well, is that I love seeing people growing through the organisation and flourishing, and facing new challenges as they come up with ways to host people through what is actually a transformational moment in their lives.”
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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