Dubai ranks first in Middle East, 10th globally for tourist appeal

Dubai: Dubai has been ranked the most attractive tourist city in the Middle East and 10th worldwide in a 2026 global index that uses online conversations to measure how travellers perceive destinations.

The Yanolja Attractiveness Index assessed 261 cities using online data and sentiment analysis, examining what travellers said about destinations rather than focusing solely on traditional measures such as infrastructure and tourism policy. The research analysed data in 14 languages from June 2025 to May 2026.

Dubai’s 10th-place finish put it ahead of destinations including Tokyo, Yokohama, Singapore, Chicago and Miami, according to the ranking, Al Khaleej newspaper reported.

The methodology uses analysis of digital conversations to distinguish between how widely a destination is discussed and how positively travellers assess their experiences.

The research was conducted by Yanolja Research with Purdue University's CHRIBA research institute and Kyung Hee University's H&T Analytics Center.

For Dubai, that approach captures the breadth of conversations generated by a tourism market that draws a wide range of visitors, from first-time tourists and repeat cultural travellers to business visitors, food enthusiasts, arts audiences and people seeking outdoor activities.

Osaka took first place in the attractiveness ranking, followed by Kyoto, with New York third and Seoul fourth. Paris placed fifth, followed by London in sixth, Rome seventh, Okinawa eighth and Bangkok ninth.

The results point to a broader change in how the competitiveness of tourism destinations can be measured. Rather than assessing only what a city provides, sentiment-based rankings seek to capture what visitors themselves say after experiencing it, and whether those conversations are positive enough to encourage others to visit.

Yanolja Research said its approach focuses on tourists’ actual experiences and conversations, using online sentiment to assess attractiveness and the volume of social media mentions to measure awareness.