Vol. XXII, No. 100 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Friday, December 12, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
CEBU CITY — Crown Regency Hotel and Towers will try to lure foreign thrill seekers as it offers coaster rides and adventure walks atop its 40-storey tower.
— http://crownregency.com
"Our company wanted to elevate the hospitality industry from the usual room accommodations and meeting venues, to a world class entertainment provider," said Richard King, chairman and chief executive officer of property developer J. King & Sons Co., Inc., which owns and operates the Crown Regency hotels under the Club Ultima network.
During its grand opening on Wednesday, Crown Regency officially launched its sky experience adventure attraction, which includes the Edge Coaster Ride, touted as the first of its kind in the world. The hotel will also launch in 2010 another extreme ride called the Insanity Orbit.
Hitesh Sampat, hotel general manager, said they would try to attract adventure tourists from other countries in the region.
"Our Asian neighbors will find our hotel attraction more convenient and accessible, and since we will market and promote it globally as a world landmark, it’s not impossible to entice tourists worldwide," he said.
Interactive Rides, Inc., one of the top amusement and extreme ride developer in the US, designed the Edge Coaster.
The coaster is built along the edge of the building on the 38th floor of the hotel tower. It takes two-passenger escape-proof coaster one to five minutes to go around the tower.
At the press briefing, Interactive Rides Vice-President Janos Lakatos assured the public the ride system was safe, adding that a similar ride they had built in Las Vegas have had zero accidents.
Even children can take the ride as long as they meet the minimum height requirement of 52 inches, he pointed out.
For those who don’t want to take the ride, the hotel has a walking escapade called the Sky Walk Extreme, where one walks on a narrow platform along the edge of the tower with a safety harness.
Executives of Linked International Management and Consultancy (LIMC), which operates Sky Walk Extreme, also said the system was safe. "In terms of fall safety, the same latest cutting edge technology being used in James Bond stunts is applied here so it’s extremely safe," LIMC Managing Director Danny Dy told reporters.
The Edge Coaster ride and Sky Walk Extreme are open to the public and initially cost P500 per ride/walk.
Mr. Sampat said they would finalize the prices soon, adding that they were still trying to determine the attractive rate. He added that special packages would be offered to both local and foreign visitors.
