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Lake Tarawera iwi, Tuhourangi, has been acknowledged for its pioneering work in tourism.
Tourism New Zealand, Te Puia and the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute presented the iwi with a carved pou in a dawn ceremony at the lake yesterday.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler says the iwi set the standard in the way they hosted manuhiri viewing the Pink and White Terraces on Lake Tarawera, and that cultural element remains a fundamental part of New Zealand’s tourism offering.
The terraces were were destroyed in the 1886 Tarawera eruption.
The pou representing Te Arawa ancestor Ohomairangi (or surprise from heaven), will be situated at the entrance of the new Tarawera Trail beside what was the original site of Hinemihi meeting house at Te Wairoa,
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