Seasons

Tapati Rapa Nui

When February It begins in early February and runs about two weeks.

Typical duration 14 days

Book 6–10 months ahead

Groups & MICE Avoid for MICE

Two weeks of Rapa Nui competition on an island whose bed base does not grow to receive it.

What it is

Two island families compete for a fortnight in cultural and sporting trials: singing, dance, carving, body painting, swimming, canoeing, horse racing and the haka pei, the descent of the Maunga Pu'i slope on banana trunks. Each family fields a candidate for queen, and the family with the most points wins. It was created to pass Rapa Nui culture to the next generation, and that is still what it does.

What to offer

Five to seven nights so the client sees several days rather than one isolated trial, with the archaeological sites spread between competitions. This is a cultural trip, not a stopover: a client who comes for the moai and meets Tapati without knowing enjoys half of it.

How it operates

The island's accommodation and flight capacity is fixed and does not grow for the festival, so the demand concentrates on the same bed base as always. The trials are spread across different points of the island and the daily calendar is published by the local organisers; the Local Supplier confirms the detail at quotation.

When to book

Six to ten months ahead. Flight and hotel commit before anything else, and on the island there is no alternative to fall back on.

Groups & MICE

A window to avoid for a corporate group: the island is given over to the festival and the useful hotels are taken. For a small incentive planned far ahead, by contrast, it is a reason to travel that is hard to match.