Beyond the Postcard: What Bora Bora Can Teach the Pacific About Tourism

To the outside world, Bora Bora is almost entirely an image: a volcanic peak rising above a luminous lagoon, overwater bungalows stretching across the reef, and one of the most recognisable enclave tourism brands in the Pacific.

But Gaston Tong Sang, the long-serving Mayor of Bora Bora, points to another reality behind the postcard.

“When people speak of Bora Bora, they naturally think of the lagoon, tourism and a destination known throughout the world,” he told delegates at the Pacific Water and Wastewater Conference held in Papaeete, French Polynesia in September. “But behind that image lies a reality that is far less visible, yet absolutely essential: the infrastructure and public services that have made this development possible.”

Tong Sang has been Mayor of Bora Bora since 1989 and has overseen much of the island’s transformation into a global tourism destination. His experience offers a wider lesson for Pacific islands whose economies depend heavily on tourism: growth cannot be separated from the limits of land, water and infrastructure.

“On an island, this evolution must be carefully planned because land cannot expand and resources are not unlimited,” he said.

In 1991, Bora Bora became the first municipality in French Polynesia to distribute potable water to its residents. Wastewater treatment and organised waste management followed.

“That decision may seem obvious today. It was not obvious 35 years ago,” Tong Sang said. “It required us to invest before all of the needs had emerged and to build infrastructure whose lifespan would extend far beyond that of a single municipal term.”

That principle sits at the core of the Bora Bora model: infrastructure should not just be about chasing development after it occurs.

“We considered that drinking water, sanitation and waste management had to form the foundations of the island’s economic development.”

For tourism-dependent islands, it raises a difficult question. Before another hotel, restaurant or major development is approved, can the island’s infrastructure support it today and decades from now?

“This does not mean slowing down economic activity,” Tong Sang said. “It means creating the conditions that allow that activity to endure.”

Perhaps Tong Sang’s strongest argument is that environmental protection and economic development should not be treated as competing priorities.

“Our environment is itself our principal economic asset,” he said. “The quality of our lagoon, our landscapes and our water directly contributes to the attractiveness of our destination.”

For tourism economies, that changes how environmental investment is valued. A clean lagoon is part of what visitors come to experience. Reliable drinking water sustains hotels, restaurants, homes and businesses, while wastewater treatment protects the reefs and beaches on which the visitor economy depends.

Bora Bora has held Blue Flag recognition since 1999, regularly monitors bathing-water quality and has invested in scientific work to better understand and protect its lagoon. More recently, consultation with residents and fishers contributed to the establishment of a roughly 574-hectare rāhui area in the south of the island.

“We cannot protect the quality of our drinking water without protecting our lagoon and its ecosystems at the same time,” Tong Sang said. “In Bora Bora, water and the environment are components of one and the same development policy.”

Bora Bora’s experience also reflects a basic reality of island life: resources are finite, and waste rarely disappears very far.

Tong Sang said treated wastewater is reused for firefighting, cleaning public areas and other activities that do not require drinking-quality water.

“On an island, what we consume, what we discard and what we produce remain concentrated within a limited space,” he said. “We must therefore constantly look for ways to make better use of our resources and reduce our losses.”

As demand increased, Bora Bora also turned to desalination. It strengthened water security, but Tong Sang is careful not to present it as an endless solution.

“A secure resource is never a free resource,” he said. “Desalination requires energy, equipment, maintenance and significant investment.”

The island is now diversifying its supply again through the Tevairoa project. After years of study, the first drain tapping a freshwater lens beneath Motu Tevairoa was inaugurated in September 2026.

“We chose to take the time to study it, verify its characteristics and identify a method of extraction that would be compatible with the fragility of the resource.”

That long-term thinking becomes more important as Pacific islands face changing rainfall patterns, drought, sea-level rise and greater pressure on groundwater.

“Our infrastructure must therefore be designed not only according to today’s needs, but also according to the conditions in which it will have to operate several decades from now,” Tong Sang said.

After more than 30 years of investment, Bora Bora has also reached another stage: changing the way people value and use water.

“Experience has taught us that infrastructure alone is not enough,” Tong Sang said. “For several decades, we invested heavily in producing, treating and distributing water. Today, we must devote greater effort to how water is used and to the responsibility of each individual.”

In 2025, he said, the municipality launched Veiatehi – the Water of Bora Bora, aimed at helping people better understand where their drinking water comes from, how it is produced and what it takes to deliver it. Tourism businesses are also being encouraged to promote local drinking water and reduce reliance on single-use plastics.

“After spending more than 30 years building infrastructure, we must now ensure that everyone understands the value of this resource and plays a role in preserving it,” Tong Sang said.

That is why, he argues, the Bora Bora model depends on shared responsibility between government, businesses, communities and institutions.

Bora Bora’s experience cannot simply be copied across the Pacific. Islands differ in size, rainfall, population, resources, public finances and the scale and style of their tourism industries.

Tong Sang does not claim otherwise.

“I do not claim that everything is perfect in Bora Bora. No territory can make that claim, and the challenges ahead of us are significant.”

What Bora Bora offers instead is a way of thinking: invest before infrastructure reaches breaking point, treat environmental quality as an economic asset, make limited resources work harder and plan beyond a single political term.

It also challenges the way tourism success is measured. Visitor numbers and hotel occupancy matter, but on a small island they are only part of the picture. The durability of tourism also depends on whether water systems can meet demand, waste can be managed, ecosystems remain healthy and communities continue to live well alongside the industry.

Across the region, tourism growth can bring jobs, investment and opportunity, but it also places more pressure on water, waste, energy and infrastructure systems that are already working within the limits of island geography. The question is not whether tourism can grow, but whether that growth can be carried without weakening the very places that make Pacific destinations attractive in the first place.

“Our responsibility today,” said Tong Sang, “is to continue this work with the same long-term vision.”

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