Day: September 24, 2016

ITDC celebrates 50 golden years with 50% discount across hotels..!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Marking the successful completion of 50 golden years of excellence in tourism, travel and hospitality industry, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the only public sector undertaking under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism has announced flat 50% discount on rooms across The Ashok group of Hotels. The hospitality and tourism giant also unveiled flat 25% off on food and beverages across ITDC-owned restaurants, room services and cake shops. Beginning today (September 24, 2016), the offers will continue till October 8, 2016 and will include many other promotional activities at different restaurants across ITDC properties. Shri Umang Narula Chairman & Managing Director, ITDC conveyed his gratitude to all the guests and stake holders including Ministry of Tourism for continued support in its Journey of 50 years.

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ITDC’s hotel division runs under the banner ‘The Ashok Group of Hotels” best described as the epitome of Indian grandeur along with a touch of classic Indian hospitality. The hospitality division (HC division) operates 8 ITDC owned hotels, 5 joint venture hotels, 3 catering establishments and a standalone restaurant across all major tourist destinations in India in addition to managing prestigious Hyderabad House as well Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi. The Celebration offer is valid at the Ashok Group’s hotels present at New Delhi, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Bhubaneswar, Jammu, Bhopal, Ranchi Guwahati, Patna, Mysore, Puducherry and Itanagar.

Talking about the golden jubilee celebrations, Shri Piyush Tiwari, Director (Commercial and Marketing), ITDC said, “It is a moment of pride and fulfillment for all of us at ITDC. As ITDC completes its 50 glorious years of operations across tourism and hospitality industry, it brings me immense pleasure to invite everyone to be a part of these revelries at The Ashok group of hotels, our standalone restaurants and all our joint venture hotels. Besides discounts and promotions, we also have many interesting food cum cultural engagements planned for our guests. 50 years is a great achievement for ITDC and we trust our guests come out full throttle to join us in these celebrations.”

Apart from discounts and promotions, the guests will also witness many cultural and entertainment activities that the organization plans to run at its hotels and restaurants across country. As the group’s flagship hotel at New Delhi ‘The Ashok’ also completes its 60 years, every 50th lucky guest will win the ‘Ashok Elite Card’ that will be valid for two years and will entitle the winner a discount of 25% on Room Tariff at The Ashok, New Delhi including its specialty fine-dining restaurants ‘The Oudh’, ‘The Frontier’, 24*7 coffee shop ‘The Samavar’ and the Cake Shop”.

Talking about the organization’s success in recent past, Mr. Tiwari said, “Last few years have been full of achievements for ITDC. Our profits not only from the hospitality division but other divisions have also increased significantly. We are focusing on all the Verticals of ITDC like Ashok Tours & Travels (ATT), Ashok Events (AE), Ashok International Trade Division (AITD), Ashok Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Management (AIHTM), Sound & Light Division (SEL), Ashok Consultancy & Engineering (ACE) to improve our overall performance and profitability across segments, while maintaining our core competence and without missing on our social responsibility as a Public Sector Undertaking”.

About India Tourism Development Corporation

ITDC was incorporated in 1966 with a mandate to develop and expand tourism infrastructure in the country. The Corporation has been moving ahead with consistent efforts on development, growth and world class services and amenities to its guests. Apart from running Hotels the ITDC has diversified into non hotel sectors like Ticketing, Tours and Travels, Event Management ,Duty Free Shopping, Publicity & printing consultancy, Engineering Consultancy ,mounting Sound & Light Shows ,Hospitality education and skill development– all under one roof.

 

Premium basmati rice brand Amira, in a delightful cook up with celebrity chef Ripu Daman Handa at Mumbai Exhibition.

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Biryani is the ultimate pièce de résistance of many a feast. The NYSE listed Amira Specialty Food Company has been in operations over 100 years. It generates majority of its revenue from its premium long-grain basmati rice surely an affirmation of the prominence of basmati rice well established in the psyche of ordinary consumers and professional cooks alike, while preparing Biryani and other rice dishes. This slow-aged mature rice is cultivated at the base of the Himalayas in select parts of India and Pakistan. Amira basmati rice is very fragrant and has a nutty flavor, the two indispensable features of long-grained rice mentioned in ancient texts as well.

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AMIRA offers an extensive portfolio of brands that have been carefully developed to appeal to local markets around the world. Customer tastes and expectations have been finely segmented to deliver authentic flavor that go well with a variety of popular cuisines.
To showcase this sophistication of Amira extra long grain basmati rice, it participated in the food industry’s biggest international exhibition & conference, “Annapoorna– World of Food India Mumbai” held in Mumbai at the Bombay Exhibition Centre from September 22-24, 2016. Amira also invited celebrity chef Ripu Daman Handa for a cooking session where they discovered the flavors and tastes of different rice types of rice.

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The day began with Chef inaugurating the session by cutting a ribbon and was felicitated by team from Amira.

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Then there was a great interactive session with the media and the audience where the chef cooked various dishes with Amira Basmati rice. He was dressed casually in jeans and shirt and so was his attitude.

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Very friendly and humble, he dished out the signature dish of Amira the Canope Indiano which was served as a entre to the people. This was followed by cooking Brinjal Rice with a South Indian flavour, this was a big hit & then the session continued with him dishing out Green Peas Pulao & Veg Biryani.

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Audience interacted with the chef and asked him about his personal journey and also his take on the Amiras products etc.
Amira also provided a wet sample of its Biryani on September 22 and 24. Guests were thrilled to be part of this unique experience and it furthered their interest in gastronomy. This event was truly a fun filled experience and I loved being part of it.

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Amira brand commands its equity under the leadership of fourth generation founding family of Chanana’s. Chairman Mr. Karan A Chanana has revamped it into a contemporary global brand and won several prestigious awards on the way. Mr. Chanana attributes this to having a “foodconnect” and a “passion for purity” in the brand’s relationship with consumers, farmers and communities.
Presently, Amira’s rice brand is present in 5 continents across the globe and is projected to have a footprint in more countries by 2017.