Mr Thomasen said the park added to Skyline's ongoing development aimed at expanding Rotorua's tourism offering.
"We have invested in the Gravity Park to target the fast growth market of mountain biking, which has seen huge success right here on this site before."
He said by October the first permanent all-year round slope style course in New Zealand would be developed and, by March 2015, there would be between 10km and 12km of trails on offer for riders.
"Skyline Rotorua has previously hosted the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2006, as well as two successful Rotorua Bike Festival Skyline Sprint Warrior downhill races - both of which have seen a fantastic response from riders," he said.
Skyline Rotorua has converted 11 of its 33 gondolas to carry up to four bikes and their riders to the top of the trails which have full-time patrollers monitoring trails and providing advice and assistance as required.
The trails include "Simple Jack" (Grade 2), "Daywalker" (Grade 3), "Hipster" (Grade 4), "Sprint Warrior", "Moss Piglet" and "Ten Fifty One" (Grade 5).
The park offers everything from half-day passes at $55, to full day, three-day, three-month, half-year and full-year passes for unlimited gondola and downhill mountain bike trail access during opening times.
Mr McClay said the park's development was partly due to the Government's Tourism Growth Partnership investment of $225,000, which funded a portion of the park's development in partnership with Skyline.
"This is a world-class downhill mountain bike facility that will further cement Rotorua and New Zealand as an international mountain biking destination, which aims to attract significant international events," he said.
Top Rotorua mountain biker and owner of Zerode Bikes Rob Metz said the trails were great.
"They will cover all of the bases and complement what we have got here in Rotorua already.
"With trails for all types of riders and being all downhill I'm sure people will get hooked and keep coming back for more."
Meanwhile, Taxpayers' Union executive director Jordan Williams yesterday described the Government's investment in the park as "corporate welfare and pork-barrel politics in one".
"The local MP has thrown taxpayer money at a sexy venture in the name of economic development. Some could perceive this as a cynical attempt to sure up [sic] support in the Rotorua electorate," Mr Williams said.
Rotorua Labour candidate Tamati Coffey said it was great to have the world-class facility but questioned the timing of the announcement and asked why a multinational company was given taxpayer money to fund private enterprise.
Mr McClay said the Tourism Growth Partnership was established to drive productivity and innovation in the tourism sector.
"The Taxpayers' Union should stop publishing misleading press releases from their office in Wellington and instead celebrate a significant achievement for the Rotorua mountain biking community," he said.
