Dubai ranks 10th globally for tourist appeal, ahead of Tokyo, Singapore, Chicago and Miami.
Dubai: Dubai has been named the most attractive tourist city in the Middle East and ranked 10th globally in the 2026 Yanolja Attractiveness Index, which measures how travellers perceive destinations through online conversations.
The index evaluated 261 cities using online data and sentiment analysis, focusing on travellers’ views and experiences rather than relying solely on traditional indicators such as infrastructure and tourism policies. The research analysed online data across 14 languages between June 2025 and May 2026.
Dubai ranked 10th globally, placing it ahead of destinations such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Singapore, Chicago and Miami, according to the ranking reported by Al Khaleej newspaper.
The methodology analyses digital conversations to distinguish between how frequently a destination is discussed and how positively travellers rate their experiences.
The research was conducted by Yanolja Research in collaboration with Purdue University’s CHRIBA research institute and Kyung Hee University’s H&T Analytics Center.
For Dubai, the approach captures the wide range of conversations generated by a diverse tourism market, including first-time visitors, repeat cultural travellers, business tourists, food enthusiasts, arts audiences and travellers interested in outdoor activities.
Osaka topped the attractiveness ranking, followed by Kyoto, New York in third and Seoul in fourth. Paris ranked fifth, followed by London in sixth, Rome seventh, Okinawa eighth and Bangkok ninth.
The findings reflect a broader shift in how tourism destinations are assessed. Instead of focusing only on what a city offers, sentiment-based rankings seek to capture visitors’ actual experiences and whether positive feedback is strong enough to influence others to visit.
Yanolja Research said its methodology measures destination attractiveness through online sentiment reflecting tourists’ experiences and conversations, while the volume of social media mentions is used to assess destination awareness.
