Emirates Airline is offering Maltese passport holders a free 96-hour (four nights) tourist visa to Dubai free of charge when booking an Emirates Stopover package.
Emirates has just gained Dubai government authority to issue 96-hour turnaround visas for visitors arriving on Emirates from most countries where visas are still needed, including Malta.
"This means that Maltese travellers are able to take a nice break simply and affordably," Emirates said in a statement last week. In a new initiative to woo the fast-growing weekender market, Emirates has relaxed conditions of its Dubai stopovers so they can be used by "out and back" visitors as well as people flying via Dubai to other countries.
The pioneering move should increase stopover sales by more than half their present total to some 35,000 a year.
In Malta, a four-night stopover package is available from Lm180 per person, based on two sharing a room and including flights Malta-Dubai-Malta, free 96-hour visa, accommodation on bed and breakfast, transfers and meet and assist on arrival in Dubai.
The package rate does not include the airport taxes for Malta-Dubai-Malta. Travellers are reminded that the free of charge visa is only applicable with the purchase of a Stopover package.
The unbeatable Stopovers packages offer rooms at a choice of 19 high-quality hotels, from self-catering to luxury five-star. The range includes six additions to the programme and five beach hotels.
Stopovers are specially tailored by Arabian Adventures, the premier Emirates Group inbound tour operator, which pioneered inbound tourism to Dubai and can fix anything from a desert picnic for a couple to an incentive dinner.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates' commercial operations director, said: "The government wants to attract 15 million people a year to Dubai by 2010. Dubai is firmly established as the quality leisure hub of the Middle East, and these innovative new weekend breaks will build up its lead.
"It's a perfect weekend destination with a huge number of potential customers only six hours' flying time away. Already Emirates is breaking records. We've just carried the largest number of customers on the largest number of flights in our 17-year history.
"Now we are highlighting the appeal of this 'safe and exotic' destination to the many new customers for long weekends here."
Emirates Airline operates three direct flights a week from Dubai to Malta: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on the new Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Brochures with more information on flights and accommodation may be obtained from Emirates sales office in Old Bakery Street, Valletta, tel: 2123-3121, ext 3381 or 2125-1384.