DUBAI, 24 December 2002 — New holiday tours of Japan’s Kansai region, the cultural heartland of the country, and of Osaka, its top commercial center, are being focused by Emirates Holidays. Holiday planners at its headquarters here have been working to finalize the tours, which will feature in its next “World of Choice” vacation brochure and which meanwhile are available from travel agents and Emirates Holidays. For an overview of this fascinating land, now linked directly to Dubai, by Emirates, six-day tours from Osaka to Kyoto, Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Hakone National Park and Nara via the Shinkansen bullet train have been arranged. In Osaka itself, vacationers can book a sightseeing trip covering Japan’s two historic capital cities, Kyoto and Nara, unchanged over many centuries and standing today as showcases of art, culture, religion and thought. Guided tours of Himeiji, with its beautiful castle, can be booked in Osaka, and tours of Hakone National Park, renowned for its hot springs, can be booked in Tokyo. Created specially to mark the launch of Emirates’ Dubai-Osaka route, the full range of holidays also includes Osaka and Tokyo city breaks, and for family-minded visitors, optional side-trips are available to Osaka’s Universal Studios — Hollywood in the East — and Tokyo’s Disney Resort. John Felix, general manager Emirates Holidays, said: “Emirates’ new Osaka link will be a highway in the sky for holiday travelers in both directions. As well as giving Japanese tourists a fast track to Dubai, the shopping and leisure capital of the Middle East, it will take holidaymakers from all over the Gulf to this fascinating Far Eastern land — in style and comfort. And once they reach this remarkable country, with its wealth of history, Emirates Holidays will offer the widest possible range of options on the market — so travelers get the maximum enjoyment from their visit.”