Easter Island is the only island in this part of the Pacific that has regularly scheduled flights, a large choice of hotels, tourist guides, shops and a thriving souvenir trade. It thus attracts tourists coming from the direction of Tahiti as well as from Santiago. Most of the year tourism is manageable; the summer months (December - March) are, however, crowded and expensive. Many come for the Tapati festival, held around the first part of February. This is vacation time in the southern hemisphere. It is also the time of year when huge cruise ships stop at the island...