Dubai has become one of the favourite destinations of Maltese travellers, particularly in the winter season.

"This year we registered an increase in the number of Maltese people travelling during the Dubai Shopping Festival. Maltese travellers are also opting to break their long haul journey, such as to and from Australia and the Far Eastern countries, with a stopover in Dubai," said Paul Fleri Soler, Emirates' district manager in Malta.

Recent figures from Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing show that overall hotel guests per annum increased two and a half times from 1996 to 2002 (1,918,471 to 4,756,280).

Emirates achieved a 10 per cent increase over last year in its total sales of special packages for the shopping festival, which has just ended.

The airline operates three direct flights each week between Malta and Dubai: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on the wide-bodied aircraft A330-200.

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