Modernization, Tourism Economics, and Interethnicity in Rapa Nui (1966-2017)

Abstract

In this article, we study the modernization of Rapa Nui during the last half century and addresses some of its consequences to date, when environmental and demographic pressures reveal the limits of this process. We analyze demographic changes from a broad temporal perspective, focusing especially on the period 1966-2017, when the island experienced rapid population growth. This is explained by the considerable flow of continental people that settle in the island and find jobs in State services, public investments and particularly in the development of infrastructure and tourism services. We demonstrate that the Rapa Nui people have substantial presence in public employment and in tourism as well as considerable influence and control of the place’s two main sources of income, respectively.