Entertainment

Dubai, UAE: 17 March 2015:This week, locations around Dubai provide the settings for a series of culinary challenges as the fourth season of Star TVs MasterChef India heats up and eight contestants take part in the Dubai Week Challenge. Airing from 16th March to 21st March, the shows celebrity Indian chefs Vikas Khanna, Sanjeev Kapoor and Ranveer Bararwere spotted around the Emiratewhile they set a series of tough challenges in locations including Atlantis, The Palm Hotel & Resort,Global Village, and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

Filmed shortly after the conclusion of the Dubai Food Festival, the Dubai Week Challenge continued one of the festivals themes of highlighting the fusion of food which exists in the emirate, with the contestants challenged to create a number of vegetarian dishes inspired by the flavours of the Middle East.

MasterChef India host and judge Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, said during his appearances at the Dubai Food Festival,The fine-dining scene in the Middle East is both dynamic and vibrant. As a city and a population, Dubai has been very open to cuisines from different cultures; and the openness to experimenting with food is clearly evidenced in the success and variation of Dubais wide offering of restaurants. This city has been my second home ever since I opened Khazana in 1998. Since then, I have developed a special bond with Dubai, which has led to the opening of three more of my restaurants here.

MasterChef India is the latest in a long-line of Indian films and television shows to film in Dubai: a key part of an ongoing marketing strategy to continue to position the emirate as a destination of choice for Indian tourists. In 2014, Dubai welcomed more than 990,000 hotel guests from India, placing the sub-continent as the second top source market for the Emirate as per the figures released earlier this month by Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, MasterChef India provides us with the perfect platform to showcase Dubai and itsdiverse culinary offeringstopotential Indian visitors. Each of the episodes will provide viewers in India with a glimpse of Dubais rich food offerings against the backdrop of some of the emirates most popular locations and demonstrate why Dubai is increasingly being recognised as the leading gastronomic destination in the region. Coming so soon after the successful second edition of the Dubai Food Festival, it provides another opportunity for us to portray Dubais cultural and culinary offering as one of the most diverse and colourful in the world.

We were thrilled to partner with DTCM on the filming of MasterChef India at Atlantis, The Palm, saidSerge Zaalof, President and Managing Director of Atlantis, The Palm. India is a very important market for us, and we were extremely happy to have locations within our resort, including The Lost Chambers Aquarium, The Grand Lobby and Nasimi Beach, included within one of the episodes. Atlantis isa perfect venue for the shows competition. We look forward to continuing to work with DTCM on future opportunities to highlight the best of Dubai to India and beyond.

We were delighted to host the Masterchef India team at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club for the filming of one of their upcoming episodes, saidAdele Cowgill, Head of Sales & Marketing of Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. The club is one of Dubais oldest and iconic landmarks and it is great for us to be working alongside such a well-loved television show to bring them to our venue. We are all looking forward to seeing the show when it airs shortly!

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