Easter Island Is About To Get Even More Difficult To Reach

November 10, 2009 at 12:29 PM | by amandak | 0 Comments

With good cause, we once decided Easter Island was the loneliest place on earth, but apparently that hasn't stopped the problem of too many tourists making their way to the historic and scenic spot, a ways off the coast of Chile.

The locals are of course happy that they get a reliable income from tourism, but they would also be happy with less. Thanks to Easter Island's energetic tourist industry, largely led by visitors wanting to see the much-photographed statues of ancient chiefs, the immigrant population of Easter Island is now about equal to the native Rapanui people. We guess those stone statues so beguiled the visitors, that many decided to make the island their expat home.

Back in August, the Rapanui managed to block the landing strip at Easter Island's airport, meaning no tourists could get in for 48 hours. They're now making moves to restrict migration to the island too, especially because the immigrants tend to make a lot more cash out of the tourists than the locals do.

One problem is that the bill now before the Chilean government is a bit ambiguous, and some think it will mean limits can be put on tourist numbers too. Dare we say that Easter Island is a place you might want to head to now, before possible restrictions come down? We guess they could always impart a heavy arrival/departure tax to discourage travelers, so we'd keep our eyes on this bill if you've always wanted to go to Easter Island.

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· Easter Island: Even More Difficult To Get To? [Global Post]
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