The regular visa procedures, which normally takes about two weeks and a mandatory sponsor from Dubai, will now be processed within 72 hours for international Visa credit card holders and will be valid from March 1 to March 31, 2001, said Emirates general manager (India and Nepal) Nabil Sultan.Emirates, which will acts as the sponsor, as it is the mother carrier in Dubai, will also provide 10 kg extra baggage on its return journey at no additional cost.

Emirates, which has recently replaced its existing fleet with a brand new one, flies around 21 flights from Mumbai along with four from Chennai and Delhi on weekly basis.

With an open sky policy of the Indian government during the peak season enabling international airlines to increase their flights, Emirates, too, would be considering an increase in flights in case of an overwhelming response, Mr Sultan said.

The Dubai Shopping Festival is likely to see an influx of 2.5 million during the 31-day festival with an estimated total incremental spend of 4.31 billion dirhams.

Outlining the theme, Festival chief executive officer Hussain Ali Lootah said, "this year it would be `One World, One Family, One Festival'." In keeping with the theme, among the big attractions during the Festival, is a daily raffle offering a fabulous prize of two cars - a Lexus GS300, Lexus 470 4-wheel drive - and a $ 36,000 scholarship for school children, thus covering the entire family.

The other key attractions are the `Gold Promotion' giving away 1 kg of gold for 31 days, `Win the World' promotion giving holidays to world destinations, the world's richest horse race - the Dubai World Cup offering total prize money of $15 million, the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament in which Tiger Woods will be the star player, the Dubai Tennis Championships and a number of live concert and fashion shows.