My hotel quotes were all taken from . The hotels I chose were:
- Highland hotel (three star)
- Kempinski mall of the emirates (five star)
- Burj al Arab (seven star)
Brochure Quotes
The quotes for three night holidays are all from the Cresta holiday’s brochure. I chose the following hotels for comparison:
-
Regent Beach Resort (three star)
- Le meridien mina seyahi beach resort and marina (four star)
- Palm tree court and spa (five star)
Prices for staying in Dubai
The following table illustrates the costs per person for staying in these hotels:
The following graph illustrates the difference in price between the holiday booked online and the brochure package:
Analysis of table and graph
The average cost of the trip booked online was £531.61 while the average for the brochure holiday is £703. The results suggest that a holiday in Dubai is cheaper if booked online. The graph shows that a brochure holiday is more expensive than booking online for every category of hotel.
Possible trips to attractions
Dubai is a city with many historical places of interest. It also has a reputation as a business venue being home to some of the world’s most prosperous businesses and firms. The following are two attractions I would recommend seeing:
The Dubai Museum
Al-Fahidi Fort, built in 1800, is home to the Dubai Museum, and is thought to be Dubai's oldest building.
In the past the fort was used to defend the town from warlike neighbouring tribes. It has also served, at various times throughout history as the seat of government, the ruler's residence, a store for ammunition, and a jail.
The walls of the fort are built from coral and shell rubble from the sea, and are cemented together with lime. Wooden poles called Handel support the upper floor, and the ceiling is made of palm fronds, mud and plaster. A massive, iron-studded door stands at the entrance, and its battle-scarred walls and towers bear witness to the conflicts of the past.
When the Museum was opened by the ruler of Dubai in 1971, its main aim was to furnish a record of the Emirate's traditional life, much of which is fast disappearing. Local antiquities have been collected and stored, along with artefacts from many African and Asian countries, trading partners with the Emirate, throughout its long commercial history.
At the Museum's entrance, the visitor can browse through a collection of old maps of the Gulf and the Emirates, together with aerial photographs showing Dubai's considerable urban expansion between 1960 and 1980.
Inside, a treasure trove awaits. A large section is devoted to musical instruments, with displays of drums, flutes, lyres, bagpipes made of goatskin and other locally-made instruments used in performances on festive occasions.
On a less peaceful note, displays of deadly weaponry are enough to curdle the blood. The curved daggers known as hanjars are much in evidence, and the display also includes swords, spears, bows and arrows, shields made of sharkskin, pistols and axes.
A model of a wind-tower room is an interesting feature of the architecture section, with diagrams and photographs showing different types of wind-towers from the older areas of Dubai city.
Narish Khyma, situated close to the Museum, is a typical Arab summerhouse, with an interesting collection of local boats. These include a replica of the famous abra -- the ferryboats used for transporting passengers across Dubai's river creek.
The Grand Mosque
Located at the Bur Side of Dubai Creek, Grand Mosque, offers the blissfulness of traditional Islamic architectural style with which the Mosque is built. Grand Mosque was built in 1900 A.D. as a Quranic School (kutab in Arabic), which was similar to present day madrasas, where children are taught Quran and Muslim religious principles. The Mosque was rebuilt to enhance its capacity to accommodate worshippers, which at present stands at 1200 devotees in total. With a minaret as high as 70 meters, the tallest in Dubai, Grand Mosque is considered as one of the most spacious mosques in UAE.
Permission to enter the Mosque is exclusively provided to Muslims. But if you are a non-Muslim and are attracted by the artistic and cultural magnificence of the Mosque, you'll be granted permission to take pictures of the tall minaret, splendidly designed walls, luminous domes and marvellous glass panels and antique window shutters from the premises of the Mosque. The mosque carries 54 domes, in which 45 are small and 9 large.
Grand Mosque along Al Mussalla Road, near Ruler's Court, Dubai, is also known as Al-Jumeriah Mosque and is also the most photographed building in Dubai.
The most striking feature of all Islamic architecture has been identified as the one which focuses more on the interior space than on the outside or facade. Traditional Islamic art and architecture has its roots in 7th-century Syrian culture from where it widened its scope to include the art and architecture from regions as far as Atlantic and South Asia.
According to experts, when Traditional Islamic Architecture is considered from the point of view of the then architects, there is nothing Islamic in their work, nor is there a dominant style which can be delineated from Islamic Art. Regional variations are innumerous and diversified, the unifying principles being the existence of geometric design and arabesque styles.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The results suggest that the college would save money if it booked trips online. For every category of hotel the online trip was cheaper. The reason for this difference could be the convenience of booking a package holiday from a brochure.
Despite the convenience of booking a brochure holiday there is a large cost saving from planning the trip yourself and I would recommend that the college books its own trips online.
