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Raksha Bandhan, a day celebrating the bond of love shared between brothers and sisters, is just around the corner, and to make this occasion more special, The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi has designed special Rakhi gift hampers for your loved ones.

The specially crafted luxurious hamper includes delectable fruit cake, handmade nut molded chocolates, mouth-melting brownies, cookies, and cheese straws. Furthermore, for the diet conscious, a cookies hamper has been curated including an assortment of whole wheat, multigrain, and oats cookies.

Committed to placing health and safety on top priority, while retaining traditional hospitality, the hamper has been created while adhering to all the COVID protocols.

The hampers are available starting at INR 450/- (Exclusive Tax).

Date: 19th August, 2021 to 23rd August, 2021


Venue: The Cake Shop – The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi

A grand felicitation ceremony was organised by The Ashok Hotel honouring the athletes

National, August 18, 2021: The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, flagship property under India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC), a public sector undertaking under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, dazzled with immense pride and glory as the hotel hosted Tokyo Olympics medallists and other athletes who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Wrapped in the tri-colour, the hotel buzzed with enthusiasm as it welcomed the Tokyo Olympics gold-medal winner Neeraj Chopra followed by PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia, India men’s hockey team and the rest of contingent. Ensuring the best in class hospitality, the Chefs served specially curated cuisine offering the taste of locale. The famous Churma, a well-known delicacy of Haryana was served to Neeraj celebrating his historic win. The highlight of the menu was in-house culinary innovation, Dal Raisina made from whole black lentils (Urad Dal) and tomato puree flavoured with saffron, followed by rabri & jalebi.

Sharing his delight about hosting the Indian contingent, Shri. GKV Rao, Chairman & Managing Director (ITDC) said, “The Indian Contingent of Tokyo Olympic 2020 is a source of inspiration for all of us, the joy & cheer that they have given us is unparalleled. India started its campaign with a Silver medal from weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and they ended the campaign with a historic gold medal when Neeraj Chopra won the Men’s Javelin gold. We are humbled to be part of this momentous occasion & look forward to more such opportunities.”

Taking about his experience, Chef Arvind Rai, Executive Chef, The Ashok Hotel said, “We are honoured to have an opportunity to host the champions of the Tokyo Olympics. The menu was curated according to their preferences and diet. We also had a chance to interact with several players and talk about their fondness for particular food and their favourite dishes.”

The Olympians were felicitated by the hotel during the grand ceremony which was organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and was attended by Shri. Anurag Thakur, Union Minister Of Sports & Youth Affairs GOI, Shri Nisith Pramanik, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports GOI and other key dignitaries.

National, 12th July, 2021: In a bid to revive tourism and strengthen bilateral relationship between India and Saudi Arabia, Trade Promotion Council of India organised a webinar on Tourism Collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia with the support of embassies of both countries.

Eminent panellists included HE Dr Ausaf Sayeed, Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia; Mr. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, C&MD, ITDC; Mr. Augustus Simon, Director Indian Subcontinent – Saudi Tourism Authority; Mr Ashok Sethi, Director, Trade Promotion Council of India; various industry stakeholders and partners.

Speaking on strengthening Tourism Collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia, Mr. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, C&MD, ITDC, on behalf of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “India holds 10th position globally as far as Medical Value Tourism is concerned, due to affordability, accessibility, and availability of medical facilities. It is the 7th dominating country in the world and 3rd in Asia Pacific region in terms of wellness tourism. India has received 4.95 lakh medical tourist in 2017 which has gone up to over 7 lakhs in 2019. With 800 NABH and 36 JCI accredited hospitals, India is a viable destination for medical facilities due to a robust ecosystem which is already well developed. Medical Value Tourism (MVT) is one of the 10 champion sectors identified by the Government of India, and we are perhaps the only country in the world with a dedicated Ministry of alternate healing and traditional medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH, which promotes Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy medicine. Ayurveda is taking off in a very big way world-wide, with its proven efficacy in the post-COVID recovery phase.”

In addition to MVT, it was highlighted that India can offer Saudi Arabian tourists a vast sea-coast with pristine beaches and a huge forest cover with 566 wildlife sanctuaries and 104 National Parks which are a great alternative to wildlife tourism offered by Africa, for example. India is also promoting MICE sector in a big way and while people from Saudi Arabia might find it cheaper to visit Dubai for events, India is definitely more economical destination.

Referring to the country’s diverse natural heritage, Mr. Rao mentioned India’s costal tourism with 7500 km of coastline as well as about the exquisite experience of monsoon tourism in Karnataka and Kerala. He also talked about the renewed thrust on reviving tourism in the wide snow-capped landscape of Kashmir and in scenic Leh and Ladakh as well as on the special focus of developing tourism in nature-rich North East. Also, as a boost to International tourism in India, Mr. Rao highlighted that Indian Government has announced issuing of free tourists visas for first 5 lakh tourists once visa issuance is restarted.

With HE Dr Ausaf Sayeed, Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia emphasizing on lifting of tourism restrictions for tourists and on tailor made tourist packages centring around medical tourism, religious tourism, heritage tourism, nature tourism, and ecotourism, both India and Saudi Arabia are looking forward to a strong synergy for the revival of tourism.