Abu Dhabi and Dubai among world’s top five destinations for family tourism

Dubai and Abu Dhabi have earned spots among the world's top five family-friendly destinations, according to the World's Most Child-Friendly Cities 2026 ranking released by Radical Storage. The assessment evaluated 50 major cities across 14 indicators to measure how well each destination caters to families, providing safe, comfortable, and welcoming environments for children.

Dubai secured the second position globally, scoring 6.5 out of 10, surpassing cities such as Osaka, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Abu Dhabi followed closely in fifth place with a score of 6.1, sharing the spot with Seoul, South Korea. Tokyo topped the list with a score of 6.8, followed by Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Osaka.

The two UAE cities, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, demonstrated strong performance across several sub-indicators, particularly safety and the availability of family-friendly accommodation and attractions. Both cities topped the Cities' Safety Index, with Dubai scoring 88.7 and Abu Dhabi scoring 88.7, indicating exceptional safety levels for families and visitors.

Dubai ranked second globally in the category of child-friendly attractions and activities, with 29.6% of its attractions classified as suitable for children, representing 34 destinations. This surpassed Kuala Lumpur's 28.7% and Orlando's 38.5%, which topped the category. Dubai also ranked eighth globally in terms of affordable hotel accommodation costs, with an average nightly rate of €53 ($59.10).