Ajman Wins the Award for “Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2026” at World Travel Awards

The Emirate of Ajman has won the award for “Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2026” at the World Travel Awards, an achievement that strengthens the Emirate’s presence on the regional and international tourism map and affirms its growing standing as a promising destination with integrated tourism, natural, heritage, and cultural assets.

The win reflects Ajman’s success in building a competitive tourism destination that brings together the authenticity of place, the development of its tourism offering, the growth of its hospitality infrastructure, and the diversity of its leisure and cultural experiences, consolidating its position among the region’s fastest-growing tourism destinations.

The Emirate secured the award following competition with a number of prominent regional destinations, including AlUla, Dhofar, Diriyah, Musandam, the Red Sea, Umm Al Quwain, and Yas Island. The global vote affirms the growing confidence in Ajman’s efforts to develop its tourism sector and enhance its attractiveness to visitors and investors.

Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Humaid AlNuaimi, Chairman of the Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media, affirmed that this international recognition reflects the qualitative progress Ajman has achieved in developing a more competitive and sustainable tourism sector, and confirms that the Emirate possesses the assets needed to consolidate its presence among promising destinations on the global tourism map.

He stated that the award represents a starting point towards greater ambition: transforming Ajman from an emerging destination into a sustainable and smart tourism model that brings together heritage, quality of life, and innovation, and offers visitors an experience that expresses the Emirate’s spirit and identity.

He added that the Department will continue investing in people, place, and experience, while strengthening integration between tourism, culture, and media. This will contribute to consolidating Ajman’s identity in the minds of its visitors and creating sustainable value for its economy and community.

For his part, His Excellency Mahmoud Khalil Al Hashimi, Director General of the Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media, stated that this global honour crowns a journey of institutional work and qualitative development in the Emirate’s tourism sector, based on a clear vision aligned with the aspirations of the wise leadership and aimed at consolidating Ajman’s standing as a competitive tourism destination at the regional and international levels.

He added that the win represents international recognition of the Emirate’s integrated tourism assets and an incentive to continue investing in the readiness of tourism infrastructure, enhancing the quality of the tourism offering, and developing experiences that meet global standards and attract more visitors and investors from diverse markets.

This recognition comes as the Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media continues to implement its vision for developing the Emirate’s tourism ecosystem and strengthening its presence in priority global markets. This is being achieved through the development of hospitality and leisure infrastructure, intensified promotional tours in strategic markets, and participation in leading international tourism and travel exhibitions.

The Department affirmed that this international recognition provides further motivation to continue working towards sustainable growth in the tourism sector, supporting the objectives of Ajman Vision 2030 and We the UAE 2031.

The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 and presented their first awards in 1994. Known globally as the “Oscars of the tourism industry,” the awards are managed through an annual global programme known as the Grand Tour, which includes regional ceremonies across different parts of the world and culminates in the Grand Final.

The awards use a voting methodology that combines public voting with votes from travel industry professionals, with accredited professionals receiving double voting weight. Votes are also subject to internal auditing to verify their validity, reinforcing the credibility of the results and the awards’ standing within the international tourism industry.