25 Jan 2010

Port bans tourism company for security breach

9:24 am on 25 January 2010

Port of Tauranga has banned a tourism company using foreigners to act as Maori after they breached port security.

It's been revealed Discovery Heritage Group enlisted other nationalities to provide Maori cultural experiences.

Port commercial manager Graeme Marshall told Morning Report that he expects groups that go aboard cruise ships purporting to represent New Zealand culture, to be authentic.

However, he said the main reason the group was banned was because the information they provided with the port did not match the people they employed.

Mr Marshall said port security is taken very seriously internationally and any compromises must be dealt with.