JEDDAH, 24 July 2007 — Varieties of dishes from major Asian countries are on offer at the three-day “Asian food festival,” which opened at the Trident Hotel on Sunday night.
Consuls general from Asian and other countries were present at the formal opening presided over by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Secretary-General Mustafa A.K. Sabri. “I’ve been to many Asian countries including China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and I love their food,” Sabri said. “After all, their culture is close to our culture.”
He said the average Saudi was familiar with their food and culture, as people from various Asian countries had been coming to Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah as pilgrims or visitors and some of them had even settled here as residents.
The event offers authentic cuisine including kebabs, tandoori specialties, and Chinese and Thai delicacies, said Chander Nain, general manager of Trident Hotel, which is hosting the festival with Jet Airways as its sponsor. Its cosponsors include Giordano, Titan, Nova Water, Al-Watania Poultry and Al-Khair Coffee.
The hotel, which recently hosted a Philippine food festival, plans to organize a seafood festival in the near future.
Speaking to reporters, Jet Airways’ Jeddah-based Regional Manager for Saudi Arabia Mehboob Peshimam said the airline chose to sponsor the event, as “Saudi Arabia is a major market for us.”
Jet Airways started as India’s domestic carrier on May 5, 1993, and currently operates on certain international routes. Jet Air has a fleet of 63 aircraft averaging 5.3 years, thus becoming the operator of the youngest aircraft fleet in Asia. With over 340 daily flights connecting a city every five minutes, the airline’s network connects 44 domestic destinations and six international ones, flying to London five times a day, Singapore three times a day, Kuala Lumpur twice a day, and Bangkok, Colombo and Katmandu once a day.
“We have plans to extend our international operations further in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia in the coming years with the induction of wide-bodied aircraft into our fleet,” Peshimam said.
Jet Airways has a network of offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, he said, adding that its tickets are available at more than 600 locations across the Kingdom. “Our e-ticketing has been a big success. Some 80 percent of our passengers have been obtaining their tickets through e-ticketing,” he said.
