Bora Bora, the “pearl of the Pacific”: heritage processes, tourist image and power relationships

Abstract

Bora Bora, with its exceptional landscapes and tourist infrastructure, is a flagship destination for international luxury tourism. The aim of this article is to interrogate the levels of heritage development of this island with an evocative name. It looks into the construction of an image of a heavenly “edge of the world” on a global scale, institutional heritage for the conservation of environments, and the strong attachment of its population to the territory. It will show how the juxtaposition of these processes produces relations of power which unbalances the socio-ecological system. With an approach based on the analysis of tourist practices, the constructed image of the island, and the discourse of local actors are used to understand the challenges of this territory affected by a twofold fragility, environmental and socio-economic. This work is based on three years of research in Polynesia and uses qualitative and participatory methods.

Keywords

• Tourism
• Heritage
• Conservation
• Biodiversity
• Power relationship