Ajman’s New Chapter: The UAE’s Quiet Rising Star Takes Centre Stage

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.