Meet Nina Maurin, an extraordinary woman in travel.
Bora Bora is known for brilliant blue waters, luxe overwater bungalows, and being the island getaway for honeymooners. But while travelers will reluctantly pack their bags and head home, the locals and staff who get to call this dream destination home every day of the year.
Nina Maurin, Director of Rooms at The St. Regis Bora Bora, grew up here and admits it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. And while global hotel brands in tourism-driven destinations can provide many wonderful employment opportunities, it’s empowering to see a local woman in a management position. We sat down with Nina to learn more about life in Bora Bora, working in tourism on the island and keeping Tahitian culture alive.
For most people, Bora Bora is a vacation destination, but for you it’s home. What was it like growing up here?
Nina Maurin: The island where I was born and that I grew up is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, with the most beautiful beaches in the world as well. It's something that we are very proud of. When I was living with my parents we had a boat, so every weekend my family and I—instead of going to Matira beach, because there's a lot of people that go there—we always want something very private. So on our weekends, we go on our private islands where we can enjoy and then we dine all together. That is something we’ve done since we were young, and it’s something we’re now sharing with our kids. In the Polynesian families, they may have four generations living all together in the same house. We want to be with family, because this is something which is part of our culture: family is very important.
Bora Bora, a commune of French Polynesia, has just over 10,000 residents.
Bora Bora is part of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. With France being so far away, geographically and culturally, how do you feel about their presence in Bora Bora?
Nina Maurin: We’ve kept our culture. What I appreciate about the French people is that they don’t want to change things and they try to adapt themselves to our culture. Culture is important to us, and when we have tourists they don’t want to come and visit the French people—they want to see our culture. They want to see us. Polynesians love sharing stories and sharing our culture, so we are here to teach them.
Obviously tourism is a big part of Bora Bora. How did you get into your line of work?
Nina Maurin: When I came back to Bora Bora after studying in Fiji, I needed to find a job and my friends who were already working in hotels on the island told me it was fun and that I would suit it especially being able to speak English. So I applied and started in reception at Hotel Bora Bora. I quickly enjoyed it and was eventually offered a better position as Front Office Manager at The St. Regis years later when Hotel Bora Bora closed. I took that position to evolve and take on management responsibilities.
There are always challenging parts to any job. What’s been particularly difficult for you?
Nina Maurin: During the week, it’s hard for me to give a lot of time to my family since I do give a lot of time to my job. That’s one of the reasons that on the weekends even though I have friends that want to go out, I tell them I can’t. I’d prefer to give two whole days to my kids and to my husband. Finding that balance between career and family is something that’s challenging for me.
Key aspects of Tahitian culture include the language as well as dancing.
Bora Bora is such a well-loved destination for travelers, but it’s the place you grew up and the place you’re raising your children. How do you strive to keep Tahitian culture alive in a place that’s all about tourism?
Nina Maurin: Well, we usually teach our kids how to dance. Also, my husband and I try to speak both languages with our kids because at this time, a lot of Polynesian young people don’t speak their native language, Tahitian—most of them speak only French. When I grew up, my practice was that at home we spoke both languages. We spoke French with our father and Tahitian with our mother so we don’t lose the language, and this is something that my husband and I do with our kids. I told my husband that I don’t want my kids to grow up without saying any words in Tahitian. So that’s important for me that we keep doing that so they don’t lose their culture and lose the language that belongs to this island. It’s something I do with my staff too, because they are locals. So I’m glad when we do a meeting and most of the time we do it in Tahitian because they’re all Polynesian.
What about sharing your culture with visitors? You obviously don’t want Tahitian culture to be presented in such a way that isn’t true to itself.
Nina Maurin: Something which is part of our culture and which is very natural to us is to be generous and to show people that they are welcome here. In our culture, if you walk around and go to where Polynesians live, even if they don’t know you and they’re getting ready to eat, they’ll say, ‘Come and eat,’ or if they have fruit they will offer you some. That is something in us. The Polynesians are people that love sharing. And we all know that without tourism and without our beautiful islands, Bora Bora wouldn’t be known as the Bora Bora of today. And having a lot of people coming to see us and coming to our island is something we can only be proud of.
Theresa Christine is a freelance travel writer based in Los Angeles, CA. You can listen to her travel and feminism podcast, The Wild and Curious Podcast.
