The United Arab Emirates, home to the world’s tallest building and biggest shopping mall, is soon to have a new record-setting boast for visiting tourists, with plans to open the world’s longest ‘zipline’ before the end of the year.

The current record holder is at Toroverde Adventure Park in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Known as The Monster, it was opened in March 2016 and is 2,205 meters (7,234 feet) long. The new record-setting line is due to open within the next few months in Ras al Khaimah, the northernmost of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, alongside better-known neighbours such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“We are launching the longest zipline in the world,” says Haitham Mattar, chief executive of the Ras al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. “We are aiming to launch by the end of the year, with a mini adventure park around it as well.”

Mattar wouldn’t be drawn on the length of the zipline at the moment, in case someone else comes in to steel his thunder, but he says it will definitely be longer than the current record holder.

A zipline (also sometimes known as a zipwire) propels riders along a cable driven by gravity, sometimes at extremely high speeds – the Pronutro Zipline in Sun City, South Africa claims a top speed of 160km/h. The longest zipwire course is the Screaming Eagle at Historic Banning Mills at Whitesburg, in the US state of Georgia. That course consists of 135 ziplines measuring a total of 11.9km. The longest part of it is the 3,000 ft Flight of the Falcon, and it takes around 12 hours to complete the entire course.

The new zipline in Ras al Khaimah is one of a series of attractions that the emirate is developing in an effort to bring in more tourists seeking adventure. It has also built a ‘via ferrata’, with a series of rope bridges and smaller ziplines along a path across its mountains, which is due to open in September. It is also looking to develop its coral reef and wreck diving offering, to go alongside existing pursuits such as desert safaris.

“What is different is the proximity of these assets. You have the mountains, the desert and the sea so close to each other,” says Mattar. “You could do a safari in the desert, a zipline in the mountains and diving in the sea all in one weekend. There aren’t many places around the world where you can do that.”

The new zipline in Ras al Khaimah is one of a series of attractions that the emirate is developing in an effort to bring in more tourists seeking adventure. It has also built a ‘via ferrata’, with a series of rope bridges and smaller ziplines along a path across its mountains, which is due to open in September. It is also looking to develop its coral reef and wreck diving offering, to go alongside existing pursuits such as desert safaris.

“What is different is the proximity of these assets. You have the mountains, the desert and the sea so close to each other,” says Mattar. “You could do a safari in the desert, a zipline in the mountains and diving in the sea all in one weekend. There aren’t many places around the world where you can do that.”

Source: Forbes