Etihad Airways is now offering guests flying through Abu Dhabi a free stopover hotel stay in the UAE capital.
Etihad and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism announced the launch of the new service at the Arabian Travel Market.
The option to add a stopover and select a hotel has now been added to the online booking process on the Etihad website and on GDS systems. South African nationals wishing to take advantage of the option will need to obtain a visa beforehand.
Travellers may stay at the following participating hotels: Aloft Abu Dhabi, Centro Al Manhal, City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel, Golden Tulip Abu Dhabi Downtown, Millennium Al Rawdah Hotel, Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Capital Centre Hotel, Premier Inn Abu Dhabi International Airport Hotel, Southern Sun Abu Dhabi and Traders Hotel Qaryat Al Beri.
Guests are entitled to two consecutive nights in a selected hotel on only one leg of a journey through Abu Dhabi and only applies to travellers with a layover of more than 24 hours.
“We plan to bring more than 100 000 visitors to Abu Dhabi through the stopover programme over the next year, and we’re confident that once they have a taste of what the capital has to offer, they will return for more,” said Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways.
The success of such programmes is illustrated by TAP Portugal’s stopover initiative. The
Portuguese flag carrier recently announced that the stopover programme brought in more than 200 000 extra visitors to the country last year.
