The dipolar interaction field in arrays of nickel nanotubes has been investigated on the basis of expressions derived from the effective demagnetizing field of the assembly as well as magnetometry measurements. The model incorporates explicitly the wall thickness and aspect ratio, as well as the spatial order of the nanotubes. The model and experiment show that the interaction field in nanotubes is smaller than that in solid nanowires due to the packing fraction reduction in tubes related to their inner cavity. Finally, good agreement between the model and experiment is found for the variation of the interaction field as a function of the tube wall thickness.