Ajman

By Sumita Chakraborty, Founder & Editor-in-chief, TheGlitz

There are destinations you hear about repeatedly, and then there are destinations that make you pause and look again. Ajman, I discovered, belongs rather interestingly in the second category.

I have travelled to UAE many times, but it was mostly visiting Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Ajman, I discovered, was the hidden gem in UAE’s crown.

Curious to know more about this place I attended the Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media’s India press conference and promotional roadshow held at The St. Regis Mumbai, where this gorgeous Emirate’s tourism story unfolded picturesquely through a conversation with the charismatic H.E. Mahmood Khaleel Alhashmi, Director General, Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media.

The Ajman roadshow, which runs from 31 August to 4 September, 2026 across Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, is clearly aimed at strengthening what the Emirate sees as an increasingly important relationship with the Indian traveller.

The Ajman Media Interaction

Leading the Mumbai media interaction was the dynamic H.E. Mahmood Khaleel Alhashmi, Director General, Ajman Department of Tourism, Culture and Media and other illustrious members including Dr Abdulla Gohar and Ms Selma Mohamed. After a formal introduction, there was a wonderful interactive segment where we asked questions and the delegates answered.

What interested me was that the conversation wasn’t simply about adding another destination to the UAE map. There was a clear attempt to articulate what makes Ajman different… and why Indian travellers, increasingly curious about experiences beyond the familiar, might want to make space for it. And perhaps that is Ajman’s most interesting proposition.

While the UAE has become synonymous with its larger-than-life iconsWith a rich heritage and picturesque landscapes, Ajman seems to be quietly cultivating a different personality. Here, culture and heritage sit comfortably alongside leisure and hospitality; family experiences coexist with the slower pleasures of discovering a destination at your own pace. It offers a softer, more intimate counterpoint to the high-octane glamour that has long defined the UAE experience. In fact, I felt, it is a stunning destination for weddings.

Listening to the discussions in Mumbai, I was particularly struck by the emphasis on collaboration with the Indian traveller. Rather than simply asking travellers to visit their Emirate, the department is looking at how Indian travel companies can weave the Emirate more meaningfully into existing UAE itineraries… creating journeys that move beyond the predictable and offer travellers a greater sense of discovery.

That feels especially relevant today.

The Indian outbound traveller is changing. There is certainly still an appetite for iconic landmarks, luxury hotels and Instagram-worthy experiences, but there is also a growing curiosity about places that feel less familiar, more experiential and more personal. Travellers want stories to bring home, not simply photographs. They want to eat differently, explore differently and, increasingly, experience a destination rather than simply tick it off a list.

Ajman has the ingredients for precisely that kind of travel. Its cultural and heritage experiences offer a glimpse into a more rooted side of the Emirates, while its hospitality and leisure offerings make it accessible to families, groups and holidaymakers looking for something beyond the usual UAE circuit. For travellers who have already experienced Dubai or Abu Dhabi, Ajman could offer an entirely different rhythm, one that allows the UAE story to unfold at a gentler pace.

During the media event, the department also highlighted incentive initiatives for Indian travel partners, signalling its intention to make the Emirate not merely an attractive proposition for travellers but a commercially viable one for the industry. H.E. Alhashmi also spoke about the importance of public-private partnerships in converting growing interest into actual visitation and, ultimately, sustainable tourism growth.

For me, however, the most interesting part of the evening was the larger conversation around how destinations are responding to the new Indian traveller. Travel is no longer simply about where we go. It is about how we want to feel when we get there. And that is where Ajman could have an interesting story to tell.

There was something rather telling about the Mumbai media event itself. It wasn’t only a presentation of a destination; it was an invitation to build relationships — between Ajman Tourism and the media, Ajman and the Indian travel companies, between the destination and the media, and ultimately between the emirate and a traveller who may be looking for a slightly different UAE experience.

As I left The St. Regis Mumbai, what stayed with me was the sense that Ajman isn’t trying to compete by being louder. It is making a quieter pitch: come a little closer, look beyond the obvious and discover another stunning side of the Emirates.

For the Indian traveller, that may just be the most interesting invitation of all.

And with Mumbai followed by Chennai and Hyderabad, Ajman’s India story is clearly only beginning.