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This article is part of a rich framework of theoretical reflection on the seas and the oceans, and proposes an itinerary of anthropology of the seas between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, to explore nautical experiences different from those developed in the West. I will discuss the contemporary imaginary of the ‘traditional’ navigation heritage in French Polynesia, starting from the TUIA-Encounters 250 commemorations, organized in New Zealand to celebrate both the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s – Captain of the British Navy – arrival from Tahiti and the tradition of transpacific voyages in a wider sense, following a process of decolonization of the event. The text’s purpose is to reconsider/revive this navigation heritage, which is metaphorically represented by the articulated return of Tupaia’s memory, the expert navigator and ritual operator originating from Ra’iātea, famous for having joined the crew of James Cook’s ship on his trip from Tahiti to Aotearoa.

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Copyright of Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare is the property of Firenze University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since its “discovery”, Tahiti has been shaped by the colonial imagination as an exotic Eden where you could go back to the happy and motionless time of myth. Within this very space though, lie the seeds of another temporality that will eventually precipitate the exotic dream into the flow of History. Facing these colonial visions, Polynesians have shaped new geo-cultural representations, designed to found a national identity. These new narratives, however, seem to be trapped into a History where no decolonization process ever occurred and which keeps looking back to an original Eden forever lost.

The tourist wastelands mark in a decisive, recurrent and permanent way the landscape of the tourist islands of the French Polynesia. Our study makes their exhaustive inventory and a classification according to their degree of desertion and considering how long the fallow land has been in existence. Will be broached the variables of the explicative system of the size of the “stock” which augments and lasts according to unknown economic factors. We will show that this complex system reflects permanent and socioeconomic more cyclical identity blockages, that can be found, with a lesser extent, in a lot of emblematic tourist destinations, that mark the tensions arising between the local host of a global tourism.

In the middle of the South Pacific, French Polynesia is one of the emblematic and archetypal locations for tropical island tourism. It has created a paradisiac image with its turquoise waters, white sandy beaches under the shade of coconut trees, sensual vahine, romantic sunsets, island life, tropicality, hospitality and sensuality. These elements offer a complete change of scene and exoticism at a premium, the “trip of a lifetime” often organized for couples seeking weddings or honeymoons off the beaten track, romantic getaways to celebrate a wedding anniversary, or wedding vow renewals, etc. The present article provides a state of the art review of this form of nuptial tourism in French Polynesia (tourist profile, places visited, duration of stay, place representations) and its regional significance and issues.