New CYBERTAG arena on the Spanish coast

Welcome a new member in the CYBERTAG family! We have one new client on our map of customers. This time the playground based on LASERWAR branded equipment will be opened in the Spanish town of Salou, on the Costa Daurada. The project of the arena on individual order was created by Elena Vilkova, designer of the company.

Let us remind you that LASERWAR not only manufactures and sells equipment for outdoor laser tag, but also creates design turnkey projects of laser tag arenas. The ATRACCIО́N LASER playground is just another project out of the many. Her owner is our long-time client and partner Kristina Novozhilova. The editor of LASERWAR contacted Kristina and asked her about the new project and the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic.

Russian laser tag in a Spanish resort

Kristina has been working with LASERWAR since 2013. In 2012, she decided to open an entertainment centre in Salou. This is a very popular tourist resort 100 kilometres from Barcelona. At that time there was almost no entertainment for kids over 7 years old. Except for the famous PortAventura - a huge amusement park where you won't go every day. Our interlocutor conceived to create a place where you can play laser tag, visit the laser bank (manoeuvring between the laser beams like in the "Mission: Impossible" movie) and a unique for Europe maze of 3D horrors.

- About a year we were renovating and then we opened a 600 square meter arena, Kristina recalls. - The laser tag site was equipped with outdoor Phoenix game sets, because then CYBERTAG was still under development at that time. I note that we chose LASERWAR products without long hesitation. They even came to Smolensk on purpose, talked to the directors. Before that, we were looking for equipment in both America and Europe, but the prices were much higher. Your offer seemed the most interesting and competitive. And now that there are more manufacturers, we stay with LASERWAR because we trust the company.

Kristina's project was fully customized for tourists. On the sea coast there are always a lot of tourists, morning and afternoon they spent time on the beach and excursions, and in the evening - they would come to play in the entertainment centre. Every week, new people came and the flow of clients was constant. Locals celebrated their birthdays in the entertainment centre. For them, it was very profitable, as the cost did not exceed 15 Euros per person for two games of laser tag plus a small snack.

Moving and new arena

A few years later, Kristina decided to buy CYBERTAG rental equipment.

- We had a closed room, so we decided to switch to specialized equipment, - she explains. - In addition, the entertainment centre is of multi-purpose kind. There's a video game room for older kids, a separate playroom for kids ages 4-7, plus a café with a terrace where parents can relax while the kids frolic. You can also have a snack, drink a cocktail, play pool, football and darts. There are also tables for eating and board games - backgammon, chess and parchís, which is popular among Spaniards.

But the entrepreneur had to part with the old room 1.5 years ago.

- It was a terrible pity to lose so much investment, but we could not agree with the owners to reduce the rent, - complains Kristina. - In January of this year, we finally found more or less suitable options for premises. It wasn't easy, as Salou has almost no large sites, and the available ones cost a lot. We asked LASERWAR for help. Elena Vilkova made for us a wonderful arena project, taking into account that it is only 130 square meters! We know it's very small, but there's nothing local to compare it to. If all goes well, we'll open a separate room next door.

As a result, a small area will turn into a colourful arena, decorated in space themes. The designer took into account all the wishes of the client: to maximize the use of elements from the past arena, create a second game level and fewer partitions.

Plans: unfulfilled and future ones

The COVID pandemic turned the way of life upside down. The tourism industry was particularly hard hit, and our partners felt it badly.

- Our income depends on tourism only. We planned to make money in the summer, but the pandemic turned all the plans upside down, says the woman. - We are still lucky that the owner of the new premises is an adequate person who extended our vacation for 3 months and reduced the rent by 30% during the year. That will really help us! But during the forced holidays, we were able to competently plan every meter of the new premises. We're opening on August 15. There is a chance to take back what has been spent and switch to a quiet winter mode of working with the local population in autumn. Now everything is gradually returning to its former life, but it is unlikely to be the same! All hope for the upcoming year.

By the way, in 2021 Kristina plans to open a service centre on the basis of her club.

- We received from LASERWAR a set of different types of equipment for the design of the showroom, - says the owner. - Thanks to this, the Spaniards will be able to come to us and try out your equipment live. Here we also want to make a service centre so that we do not have to send equipment to Latvia or wait for consumables for weeks. But these are plans for the next year.

We, in turn, wish Salou friends success in business. We hope that the year 2021 will be more successful for all of us. And more cool arenas and rental clubs under the LASERWAR flag will open up all across the globe.

Do you want to order a design project from our specialists, as well as Kristina? We'd be glad to help. The employees of the company will develop the design of the premises, will consult you at all stages of the arena construction, install and adjust the equipment. For more information, please see the section devoted to services. The exact cost of the project will be calculated by our managers.