More daredevils take on bungee jump

Meanwhile, in the other SAR ...

A.J. Hackett's world's highest commercial bungee jump at Macau Tower is expanding operations due to increased participation by students.

Jump general manager Charlie Bassett said business was booming this year with an expected 30 per cent growth compared to last year.

Mr Bassett said the majority of people who used the facility were students or those in their 20s. Last year more than 25,000 people did bungee or skyjump, skywalks or mast climbs.

'A large portion of people we get come over from Hong Kong and there are also a lot of Japanese,' Mr Bassett said. 'We do an average of about 20 bungee jumps a day. The growth we have experienced has been tremendous.'

The youngest person to take the 233-metre bungee jump was a 12-year-old and the youngest person to skyjump was six.

Bungee jumpers freefall for six seconds at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour and then another four seconds to stretch the 50m bungee cord to four times its original length.

People who skyjump freefall for 17 seconds before landing on their feet on the ground.

Mr Bassett said there was little need for a big marketing campaign to sell the product. 'We rely heavily on word of mouth and the age group that is interested in bungee uses things like YouTube,' he said.

'A lot of people do the jump and want to show their friends so they talk about it a lot and word gets around.'

The majority of skywalkers - who walk around a 1.8m-wide platform with no handrails 233m above the ground - are older.

Mr Bassett said he hoped to open an internet cafe at the site later this year.

For more information, visit www.macautower.com.mo or www.ajhackett.com