Moais in various conditions at Rapa Nui National Park, in Easter Island, Chile.
© Hernán Torres
© Hernán Torres
by Marcela Torres
A couple of weeks ago, the travel blog of the
prestigious Forbes business magazine highlighted Easter Island, in Chile, as
“the most interesting place in the world”. According to blogger Larry Olmstead,
he is surprised that people do not hear more about the island, considering that
–in his opinion- it is much more compelling than other remote and exotic
destinations such as Machu Picchu, the Maya ruins or the pyramids in Egypt.
What makes Easter Island so special? Olmstead
says it’s the mystery and enigma surrounding the Moai statues. The author
states that although the Machu Picchu buildings and the pyramids are
impressive, we know quite a lot about who built them and for what purpose. This
is not the case of Easter Island.
In his blog, Olmstead also mentions that in the
island you do not see the big crowds of tourists that take away attraction to
many other destinations that are overcrowded. We have already commented on the
importance of avoiding excessive use of tourist attractions previously in this
blog.
The good news is that in Easter Island,
although tourism is the main source of income, both the local population and
the government authorities have shown interest in promoting the development of
sustainable tourism.
Proof of this is the Sustainable Visitor Center that opened in May this year within Rapa Nui National Park, which covers a large
part of the island. This is the second of its kind –the first was built in 2006
in Los Flamencos National Reserve, in northern Chile- and a great step forward
towards responsible tourism.
With technology such as solar panels to provide
electricity and reinforced safety measures for people visiting the place, the
total cost of this infrastructure was 468,000 U.S. dollars that were
contributed by the Valparaíso Regional Government, American Express –through
the World Monuments Fund (WMF)- and the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF),
the government agency in charge of managing protected areas in Chile.
This is part of the Chilean Government’s
strategy to promote sustainable tourism in Easter Island, with initiatives that
include an ecotourism training program carried out in 2009 jointly with UNESCO
and the National Tourism Service’s (Sernatur) current campaign to provide a
sustainability distinction, a kind of certification that will be applied as a
pilot project in the island with the intention of replicating it in other
destinations within Chile.
All of these improvements and the well-deserved
acknowledgement of Easter Island in Forbes magazine’s travel blog are, no
doubt, important to promote responsible tourism in this magical place so that
it can continue to be enjoyed by future generations.
This entry was originally posted by the author on August 17, 2011.
