What is a Value Tour?

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

SBMA offers one or two tours per year that offer an educational travel experience to SBMA Members at a lower price point than our other tours. They are put on by a U.S. Tour Operator that specializes in educational travel for members of institutions like ours and university alumni. They operate the same well-designed itinerary for various groups, which allows them to offer a smoothly-operated tour, with well-vetted guides, hotels, and activities at a great value. SBMA selects the itineraries we think our Members will enjoy. Usually there are three talks by guest lecturers. They usually do not include visits to private collections or the special access that some of our other tours offer.

The carefully chosen and well-located hotels are usually 4-star hotels—not necessarily luxurious but with all the comforts expected. The group size is often slightly larger to keep the cost down as well, however they are still "small group tours" with the maximum number of participants for most land tours set at 24 and often the group size is much smaller. Usually our value tours are exclusive to SBMA; however, if we have low enrollment, we often have the opportunity to partner with other organizations in order to make the trip happen. Unlike our “customized” tours, value tours are not customized by SBMA for the SBMA traveler, but they are carefully selected and matched to the interest of our travelers. They offer a well-rounded educational travel experience with much included at a "great value" and many of our travelers are devotees of these trips.