A HIGH-speed zipwire ride which opens on Bournemouth’s seafront tomorrow will mark the latest phase of a plan to revive the resort’s pier.

Leisure operator Openwide International took over the pier eight years ago and spent years negotiating over the kind of attractions that could draw people through its turnstiles.

It closed the Pier Theatre, despite a public campaign to keep it, and opened the indoor climbing attraction RockReef in the theatre building earlier this year.

Now, visitors will have the chance to climb a 60ft ‘launch tower’ and zipglide 820ft over the ocean to the beach. The PierZip line is the first pier-to-shore zipwire experience in the world, according to the company.

Architects behind the attraction produced this animation earlier this year giving a rider's perspective of the attraction

Openwide’s MD, Rory Holburn, said: “Eight years on, we’ve finally got the ducks in a row to put the new attractions in and a business model we feel can work in the long term.”

Openwide also runs the pier at Cromer, in Norfolk, where it elected to keep the pier theatre.

In Bournemouth, the theatre was kept open one year longer than expected, but Mr Holburn insisted it had proved impossible to find a future for the loss-making venue.

“We tried hard to get the theatre back and running but we have too many venues in Bournemouth,” he said.

“The Pavilion and the BIC are very successful and I’m afraid the market is different. We don’t really go to the seaside to enjoy a show any more.”

Bournemouth council, which leased the pier to Openwide in 2006, rejected early suggestions for attractions, including a big wheel and a high ropes attraction.

“After long, protracted discussions and lots of co-operation from the local council, we eventually came up with this current scheme,” said Mr Holburn.

“We try to work with the council because they share our passion for trying to make the pier relevant to today.”

 


 

This year’s additions also include an 11metre by 1.5m LED scheme promoting the pier’s attractions and other local venues. Like other seaside businesses, the company has to persuade people to part with money during a ‘free’ day out to the beach.

“I came from the theme park industry and one of the things we know is if you give people something for free, they come out for a day out and they bring no money with them,” he said. “If you come for a day out at the beach, all you’re really expecting to pay for is ice cream and parking.”

But he said the PierZip should prompt people to take to the pier.

“The zipwire, by entertaining people on the beach, creates that ‘wow’ factor and continues to get people past the booth,” he said. He added that Bournemouth required something different from the very traditional pier attractions in Cromer.

“Our biggest challenge is to try and make sure what we’re doing is relevant to the local community as well as appealing to the day market,” he said.

We'll have full coverage of the opening of the zipwire online on Wednesday when we'll be testing it out.