Dubai has a privileged geographical position, where the 3 continents Europe, Asia and Africa unite. This was of course a big advantage for  the travel industry of the country, boosting tourism.

In Dubai there is the famous Dubai World Trade Center, as well as several other  facilities for trade and commercial exhibitions. There are all the time a lot of trade events happening here. A big number of the luxury hotels here cater to this type of clientele.

But business is not the only reason Dubai has a massive influx of people. A lot has been done to encourage tourism for pleasure, as well.  It’s hard to believe Dubai started an airline only in 1985. This is because now it has a big busy airport where a huge number of flights arrive and depart daily.

Let’s start our exploration with the Dubai beach hotels. The most well known is the Jumeirah area, offering top luxury accommodation, such as Burj Al Arab or Jumeirah Hotel. The first one is of course known as the most luxurious hotel in the world. It has facilities that were unheard of before.  However, there are also cheap hotels and it is possible to have a cheap holidy to Dubai, contrary to what a lot of people think.

There are a lot of tourist attractions, to suit everyone tastes. A lot of word of mouth was created around the indoor ski slope, that enables you to ski, while outside there is a killer heat. You can also go for dessert safari by jeep, for cool snowboarding on sand dunes or play golf  at some of the best courses in the world.

We can not mention Dubai without immediately making a connection with shopping. There are a lot of malls, of of which some are of impressive size. There is a very big variety of merchandize and you can buy almost anything. In the beginning of the year there is the famous Shopping Festival when you can benefit of cheap prices and big discounts. However, there are a few items that are cheaper all year versus other locations in the world – jewelry, especially gold and watches. So you can plan on that and buy for example a luxury watch one third of the price cheaper than almost anywhere else.

The best timing for visiting Dubai us between October and April, when weather is a bit cooler. In the summer, be warned that the heat is extremely intense.

So, don’t forget that you can enjoy a supremely luxury holiday in Dubai, but at the same time there are also cheap hotels and it is possible to have cheap holiday in Dubai.

That feeling never really changed as I grew older, and I think I’ve instilled it into my kids.  They’ve been to Aruba in the Caribbean twice before the age of 13, once out west, and once to Florida.  They love to travel.  To be quite honest, they don’t really care where they go, as long as they get to stay in a hotel somewhere.  They just get a big kick out of being somewhere different.  These days, I have a brother who lives in Dubai with his wife and new daughter.  So, I’ve been looking into holidays Dubai style as of late.  My other brother and mom were just there to visit him, and they thought it was great.  Emirates Air is a pretty amazing airline from the stories they tell.

Now, a couple of places I’d really like to visit before I get too much older, are Africa and Egypt.  They just seem like such exotic places to me.  I’ve seen so much about them in movies and television, that I think I’d really enjoy the culture, history and landscape both those countries have to offer.  I don’t have a big budget at the moment, and I’m discovering that finding a cheap holiday to Egypt or Africa is not a simple task.  I haven’t given up yet, but may end up settling for a trip closer to home this year.  As long as I get out there somewhere and treat myself to somewhere different, I’ll be happy.  Traveling with the family, is also a big bonus at this point in time.  There’s only so many more years where we will be able to travel with them, so I’m enjoying it to the fullest while I can.