MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Easter Island expects summer tourism spike

Tourism is booming on Isla de Pascua (Easter Island). With the height of the summer tourist season still three months away, flights and hotel rooms in “The World's Navel” are already becoming a scarce commodity.

Nearly 70 percent of hotel rooms on the island have been reserved starting in November, and LAN airlines reports that flight reservations have increased 20 percent compared to last season. The island attracted 32,000 tourists between January and August of this year, an increase of 28 percent since 2005. Of those, more than 10,000 were foreigners – mainly from France and other European countries. Easter Island's main draw is the mysterious Moai sculptures – some 887 intricately carved monoliths that line the island. Authorities credit this year's "Seven New Wonders of the World" campaign for the heightened interest. Although the Moai statues did not win a place among the seven new wonders, the competition provided helpful publicity according to officials. (Santiago Times)