| Summary: |
This research presents an ethnographic and historical reflection on the socio-cultural effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in Rapa Nui, which was an emblematic case at the national and international levels of border closure, not allowing people to enter its territory for almost two and a half years. The pandemic severely challenged the progressive structuring of the island as a popular tourist destination. In this context, ethnographic observation provides a glimpse of an original way of managing the crisis. It was based on a multifaceted social mobilization and a peculiar institutionalism to generate a culturally anchored response. Ultimately, the island described the pandemic as an ambiguous time of confinement, danger, reactivation ("back to") and reinforcement of social ties. It was a time when the island and its inhabitants looked at themselves, and the relationship with tourism was rethought.
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