RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rio inaugurates today, Saturday, December 6th, the Rio Star Ferris wheel, 88 meters high and the largest in Latin America. The complete tour will last 18 minutes. The public will be accommodated in 54 gondolas [cabins] with capacity for up to eight passengers.
The Ferris wheel is located downtown in Porto Maravilha and will be open every day, including holidays, from 10am to 6pm. The attraction offers a privileged view of Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf and Guanabara Bay.
Whoever is in Rio de Janeiro will be able to purchase the ticket at a promotional price of R$49 (US$11), which is valid for tickets purchased through the Internet until December 19th. After this date, tickets will cost R$59.
Rio’s residents will be able to purchase tickets for the promotional price of R$49 for an indefinite period of time. Tickets and other information can be obtained through the Rio Star website.
The project was born from a bid by the City of Rio de Janeiro for the construction of a theme park in the port area, near the AquaRio site.
The executive director of FW Investimentos, the holding company that manages Rio Star, Fábio Bordin, said that the work began in December of last year, and the biggest challenge was to “tropicalize” the Ferris wheel, 100% ordered in China.
“We went to China with our engineers and specified how the whole structuring should be, so that it would come to Brazil prepared for the issue of sea spray, type of steel. All this was done previously”, said the executive to the press in October.
Rio Star is expected to generate 60 direct and 60 indirect jobs, and part of these vacancies were reserved for residents of the region, especially Morro da Providência, a favela near the tourist attraction.