Dubai ranks among world’s top 10 most attractive tourist cities

Dubai finished ahead of other tourism locations including Tokyo, Yokohama, Singapore, Chicago and Miami.

Dubai ranked 10th worldwide in terms of tourist attractiveness in Yanolja Research’s 2026 assessment of major global tourism cities. Dubai also secured first place in the Middle East for traveller appeal.

Yanolja Research assessed 261 cities using social media conversations and sentiment analysis. Researchers analysed traveller discussions in 14 languages between June 2025 and May 2026.

Dubai enters global tourism top 10

Osaka led Yanolja’s attractiveness ranking, followed by Kyoto, New York and Seoul. Paris ranked fifth, with London sixth and Rome seventh. Okinawa took eighth position, and Bangkok placed ninth. The city completed the global top 10.

Dubai finished ahead of other tourism locations including Tokyo, Yokohama, Singapore, Chicago and Miami.

Yanolja Research expanded its assessment sharply during 2026. Coverage increased from 191 cities in the previous evaluation to 261 destinations. Researchers published rankings for the top 200 cities.

Purdue University’s CHRIBA Institute and Kyung Hee University’s H&T Analytics Centre worked with Yanolja Research on the assessment. Brandwatch supplied global social media data across the 14 languages examined.

Traveller sentiment drives attractiveness score

Yanolja separates destination awareness from attractiveness rather than treating visitor volumes as the sole indicator of tourism performance.

Awareness measures how extensively travellers discuss a city online. Attractiveness tracks positive sentiment expressed about visitor experiences. Researchers assign each measure a 50 per cent weighting when producing the wider Yanolja Attractiveness Index.

Analysis covers urban beauty and natural scenery, culture and history, experiential content and hospitality. Researchers also track discussion across 17 subcategories using 419 tourism-related keywords.

Social media data provides direct evidence of traveller perceptions across food, accommodation, shopping, attractions, nightlife, activities and hospitality.

Dubai’s 10th place attractiveness result measures positive traveller perceptions rather than its position in Yanolja’s separate overall ranking. New York ranked first in that broader 2026 assessment.

Dubai visitor volumes reach record level

The city’s ranking follows another record year for its tourism sector. Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism recorded 19.59 million international overnight visitors during 2025.

Arrivals increased 5 per cent from 18.72 million from 2025. December of 2025 introduced 2.04 million visitors, the first month to exceed two million international arrivals.

Western Europe supplied 4.1 million visitors and represented 21 per cent of total arrivals. GCC markets generated 2.99 million visitors, equal to 15 per cent. South Asia and CIS and Eastern Europe each contributed 2.89 million travellers.

The city’s total hotel inventory reached 154,264 rooms across 827 establishments by December 2025. Average occupancy climbed to 80.7 per cent. Occupied room nights rose 4 per cent to 44.85 million.

Tourism capacity continues expanding

The city has continued adding hospitality capacity throughout 2025 through openings across luxury, resort and serviced accommodation segments.

Ciel Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Mandarin Oriental Downtown Dubai and Cheval Maison Expo City joined citywide inventory during the year.

Dubai International Airport retained its position as the world’s busiest airport for international passengers during 2025, according to Airports Council International data cited by DET. Passenger traffic reached 70.1 million during the first nine months, up 2.1 per cent.

The city also maintained a broad events pipeline spanning retail, sport, gastronomy, business events and entertainment. Dubai Business Events secured 504 successful bids during 2025 for events scheduled through 2029.

Yanolja’s 2026 assessment adds traveller sentiment data to those operating indicators. The city’s top 10 attractiveness ranking places the city alongside established tourism centres across Asia, Europe and North America.

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Dubai ranks 10th globally for tourist attractiveness as Yanolja analysis places the city first in the Middle East for traveller appeal data.