Skyline Luge Tongyeong offers fun-filled adventure for riders of all ages –
‘Once is Never Enough!’
Tucked away on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula is Tongyeong, a popular tourist spot with delicious seafood and picturesque mountains, islands and seaside views. It’s a great place to get away for a few days.
If you look carefully, you will find hidden away a nice slice of Kiwi lifestyle at Skyline Luge Tongyeong, which offers fun-filled action for all who feel the need for speed. With four distinctive tracks – Legend, Ultra, Gravity and Express – riders can experience the thrill of the Luge with its 3.8KM of twists and turns, all leading to an epic day of total enjoyment. Visitors can also experience the Skyride, a five-seater chairlift which transports you to the top of the mountain for your ride, or just partake for the panoramic coastal and island views.
Skyline Luge at night
Having opened in early 2017, Skyline Luge Tongyeong has raced to the top and is extremely popular among people from all over country.
“As one of New Zealand’s top investors in Korea, Skyline Luge Tongyeong has grown rapidly over the last several years and exemplifies everything that is Kiwi – outdoor scenery, sense of adventure and fun with family and friends,” said Dr. Tony Garrett, Chairman of the Kiwi Chamber. “It is an honor to have Skyline Luge as a Gold sponsor of the chamber and we look forward continued collaboration as they continue to expand in Korea.”
Riders racing down the track
As part of its Inspire with Innovation Series, the Kiwi Chamber caught up with Rab bin Sadir, General Manager, Skyline Luge Tongyeong to discuss their operation, rapid growth and all things Luge.
Please tell us about Skyline Luge and when the site opened in Tongyeong, Korea.
Skyline Luge is a fun-filled adventure activity suitable for riders of all ages and experience.
Invented in New Zealand over 35 years ago, and having hosted over 50 million rides worldwide, Skyline Luge is a unique wheeled-gravity ride that provides riders full control over their descent on purpose-built track.
Our tracks are all designed with twists, turns and tunnels to ride with your friends and family for fun-filled action.
The opening of the Skyline Luge experience in Tongyeong in early 2017 was the sixth international location with a Skyline Luge, with plenty more in the pipeline including a second Skyline Luge in Busan to open this summer.
Action-packed twists and turns
For our audience, what is the ‘Luge Experience’ – what can visitors expect in terms of fun and excitement? How many tracks does the site have?
The Luge experience is unique in that you control the experience by harnessing the power of gravity. Our uniquely designed Luge cart takes you down a purpose-built track that brings out the inner child in everyone. Pure unadulterated fun!
Last year we continued our commitment to delivering even more fun by adding an additional two tracks to the site. These have been a huge hit with visitors and continue to position the Skyline Luge Tongyeong experience as the leading Luge experience in Korea.
Spectacular views on the five-seat chairlift, The Skyride
The SkyrideSkyline Luge has been extremely popular in Korea. What key milestones have been reached and where are you to date in terms of number of rides or riders?
Skyline Luge Tongyeong has been extremely popular with the people of Korea from the very beginning. We broke the record for the fastest Skyline Luge business to reach the one million rides milestone and have done more than six million luge rides since.
We are also very proud of our teams being recognized for exceptional customer service, being awarded the Korean Customer Satisfaction Award every year since 2017, and in 2019 being recognized as one of the 100 Must Visit Spots in Korea by the Korea Tourism Board.
We have also continued to innovate the experience by launching the very popular night luge in late 2017 and opened two new luge tracks in July of last year.
We are also excited to be very shortly opening a second Skyline Luge park in Busan, a significant milestone in continuing to bring our unique Skyline Luge experience to more people.
Celebrating 1,000,000 rides
This has been a challenging year due to Covid-19. What impact has the pandemic had on Skyline Luge Tongyeong? Have you been able to remain open over the last year?
Yes, this year has been challenging, and like many attraction businesses we have had to rethink how we operate in a Covid-19 environment, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our people and our customers. Pleasingly, we have been able to remain largely open and operational thanks to a huge effort from our team in ensuring compliance with safety management measures.
They say copycats are the greatest form of flattery. What is Skyline Luge Tongyeong’s strategy for dealing with other sites popping up throughout Korea?
Being the first and original Luge business in Korea we continue to invest in the experience and ensure we lead the way in delivering fun. The recent addition of two new tracks is an example of this, as is opening a second Skyline Luge in Busan this summer.
Skyline Luge Tongyeong has been a Gold and Silver sponsor of The Kiwi Chamber over the last several years. What connects you to the chamber and what do you get out of the relationship?
We see The Kiwi Chamber as a great association for us as it is an institution that brings together companies with similar goals, and who highly value the relationship between Korea and New Zealand. It provides great support and above all, The Kiwi Chamber provides amazing opportunities for like-minded entities to network and share information. We are proud to be supporters.
New Zealand Ambassador to Korea, Philip Turner, visits Skyline Luge Tongyeong
For our members and guests, what else can they experience when they visit Tongyeong?
Tongyeong is known for its great natural beauty, and Skyline Luge Tongyeong sits directly below the Hallyeosudo Cable Car which takes visitors to Mt Mireuksan and offers stunning views across Tongyeong City, the sea and surrounding islands. Tongyeong is also known throughout Korea as a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, a place where one can indulge in abundance of delicious food and get in amongst nature while eliminating the stresses of daily life. Try some fresh seafood, jump on a yacht cruise while seeing the sun go down and stroll through the famous Lee Sun Shin Park and soaking in the surrounding nature. In the evening you can check out the ‘Garden of Light’ at Dpirang, guaranteed to let your imagination go wild. But most importantly come and say ‘Gidday’ to us here at Skyline Luge Tongyeong for a thrilling time!
The beauty of Tongyeong
Please tell us a little about yourself and your stay in Korea. How has Tongyeong changed since you first came here?
I am from Singapore and I’ve been with Skyline Enterprises Ltd, the parent company of Skyline Luge since 2005. I am blessed to have been able to live in different cities because of my job and my latest stint in Tongyeong has been enjoyable and meaningful. Although I’m used to the big-city life, I prefer the countryside like Tongyeong because it feels calmer, has less traffic congestion, and cleaner air. It is also safe, people are helpful, and I’m fascinated with Korea’s vibrant cultural and traditional practices.
The thing that Korean citizens and inbound travelers alike enjoy about Tongyeong is the fact that unlike urban areas, for the most part it remains the same. You won’t find huge infrastructure projects and multi-storey malls popping up here. Instead, you will find beautiful nature walks through un-changed mountains, glorious islands in their natural beauty, and fresh seafood being scooped up from the ocean and put on to our plates. Tongyeong continues to add attractions such as The Garden of Light – Dpirang, because of demand from tourists for more activities. So, the answer to this question is quite simple, Tongyeong doesn’t change much, and most will say they prefer it that way.
For more information on Skyline Luge Tongyeong, please visit:
https://www.skylineluge.com/en/tongyeong/
Skyline Luge Tongyeong – YouTube
