For years, Ajman was the emirate that many travellers passed through rather than travelled to. Smaller, quieter and considerably less showy than Dubai, it occupied a curious place in the UAE’s tourism story: close enough to the country’s major attractions to be convenient, yet sufficiently removed from the international spotlight to retain a character of its own.
That perception is changing.
At the World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony, held at One&Only One Za’abeel in Dubai on 13 September, Ajman was named Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2026 — a prestigious regional accolade that places the emirate firmly among the destinations to watch.
The award is particularly significant because it recognises not simply an established tourism market, but a destination in the midst of evolution. For Ajman, the prize represents international acknowledgement of an increasingly sophisticated tourism proposition built around coastline, heritage, hospitality and experiences, while retaining a sense of intimacy that can be increasingly difficult to find elsewhere in the Gulf.
There is an appealing simplicity to Ajman. Its Arabian Gulf coastline provides a natural foundation for beach holidays, while the emirate’s older quarters offer glimpses of a history shaped by fishing, pearling and maritime trade. Beyond the city, the landscape changes dramatically, stretching towards the foothills of the Hajar Mountains and opening the door to a very different kind of UAE experience.
This combination is becoming one of Ajman’s greatest assets. While the region’s best-known destinations have built their reputations on spectacle, Ajman is finding its own appeal in experiences that feel more relaxed and personal. It is an emirate where a morning beside the Gulf can be followed by an exploration of local heritage and an afternoon spent discovering the landscape beyond the coast.
The World Travel Awards recognition arrives at a particularly interesting moment for the emirate. The title of Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination places Ajman alongside a region experiencing extraordinary tourism growth, but also signals that the emirate is increasingly capable of competing for international attention on its own terms.
And the national awards underline just how much that tourism proposition has developed.
At the same ceremony, Fairmont Ajman was named both Ajman’s Leading Business Hotel 2026 and Ajman’s Leading Hotel 2026, while the Royal Suite at Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort, was recognised as Ajman’s Leading Hotel Suite. Ajman Saray itself collected Ajman’s Leading Luxury Resort. The emirate’s tourism infrastructure was further represented by Global Desert Safari, winner of Ajman’s Leading Tour Operator, and Makani Travel & Tourism, named Ajman’s Leading Travel Agency.
Together, the results tell an intriguing story. Ajman is not relying on a single flagship hotel or one headline attraction to establish its credentials. Instead, a broader tourism ecosystem is beginning to emerge — encompassing luxury accommodation, business travel, desert experiences and travel services.
For the luxury traveller, however, it is perhaps Ajman’s understated quality that is most intriguing.
The emirate offers the possibility of enjoying the Gulf without the relentless pace associated with some of the region’s larger tourism centres. Its beaches are a natural draw, but the experience is less about simply occupying a stretch of sand and more about combining the coast with the character of the destination behind it.
That sense of place matters increasingly to today’s traveller. The Gulf’s next generation of tourism is not only about larger hotels, taller buildings or more elaborate attractions. It is also about authenticity, conservation, local culture and experiences that allow visitors to understand where they are.
Ajman has a natural advantage here.
Its history is still visible in its architecture and museums, its relationship with the sea remains central to its identity and its proximity to the mountains gives it access to landscapes that feel far removed from the contemporary skyline of the UAE.
There is also something refreshing about the scale of the experience. Ajman can be explored at a gentler pace, allowing travellers to move between beach, city, heritage and countryside without the sense of distance that can define larger destinations.
The award therefore represents more than a trophy. It is a statement about where Ajman is heading.
For the Ajman Department of Tourism Development, the challenge now is to convert this growing international recognition into sustained interest while protecting precisely those qualities that make the emirate distinctive. The region’s tourism success stories demonstrate how rapidly destinations can change; Ajman’s opportunity is to ensure that growth enhances rather than overwhelms its identity.
The emirate’s success also adds another dimension to the UAE’s extraordinary tourism story. Dubai remains the region’s leading destination after winning Middle East’s Leading Destination 2026, Abu Dhabi took Middle East’s Leading Business Travel Destination, while Sharjah’s Mleiha National Park was named Middle East’s Leading National Park. Ajman’s emergence adds another strand to that increasingly diverse national tourism proposition.
Rather than one destination attempting to offer everything, the UAE is becoming a collection of distinctly different experiences: Dubai for energy and spectacle, Abu Dhabi for culture, business and grand-scale luxury, Sharjah for heritage and nature — and Ajman for something altogether more relaxed and intimate.
That may ultimately prove to be Ajman’s greatest opportunity.
The modern traveller is increasingly searching for places that offer discovery without excess, luxury without formality and experiences that feel connected to their surroundings. Ajman has much of that already. What it now has, following its World Travel Awards success, is something equally valuable: international recognition.
The emirate that travellers once passed on the way to somewhere else is beginning to become somewhere in its own right.
And perhaps that is the most telling part of Ajman’s World Travel Awards triumph. It is no longer simply an emerging destination. It is a destination beginning to emerge.
Ajman secured six emirate-level awards at last night’s Middle East Gala Ceremony in Dubai, as well as the major regional title of Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2026.
Ajman’s World Travel Awards 2026 winners
Ajman’s Leading Business Hotel 2026 — Fairmont Ajman
Ajman’s Leading Hotel 2026 — Fairmont Ajman
Ajman’s Leading Hotel Suite 2026 — Royal Suite @ Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort
Ajman’s Leading Luxury Resort 2026 — Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort
Ajman’s Leading Tour Operator 2026 — Global Desert Safari
Ajman’s Leading Travel Agency 2026 — Makani Travel & Tourism
Ajman’s major regional victory
Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2026 — Ajman, UAE
The result is particularly significant because the regional award recognises Ajman as one of the Middle East’s destinations to watch, while the six emirate-level awards demonstrate strength across luxury hospitality, business travel, resorts and tourism services.
Fairmont Ajman was the evening’s standout individual winner for the emirate, taking both Ajman’s Leading Business Hotel and Ajman’s Leading Hotel. Meanwhile, Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort collected both Ajman’s Leading Luxury Resort and the Leading Hotel Suite award for its Royal Suite.
