Dubai’s social influencer-cultivated status of being a secure haven simply went up in smoke

Iran’s current strikes on Dubai have executed appreciable injury to Dubai’s status as a “safe haven.”

And the entrance strains of the general public relation warfare are a glamorous cadre of excessive profile influencers based mostly there. “You live in Dubai, aren’t you scared?”

They’re placing on a collective courageous face, sharing scenic footage of the UAE emirate and reassuring clips of its leaders. They say they’re not scared, with suspicially obscure explanations akin to, “because I know who protects us.”

Although nearly all of the missiles geared toward Dubai have been intercepted, the assaults have broken a few of its most well-known landmarks, together with the five-star Fairmont The Palm and Jumeirah Burj Al Arab resort.

“This is Dubai’s ultimate nightmare as its very essence depended on being a safe oasis in a troubled region,” Cinzia Bianco, an knowledgeable on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf area on the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a put up shared on X.

“There might be a way to be resilient but there is no going back.”

Dubai’s inhabitants has grown quickly in recent times, surpassing 4 million for the primary time final 12 months in keeping with official knowledge, with over 90% of newcomers made up of foreigners.

The emirate has been steadily attracting worldwide entrepreneurs, professionals, and naturally, influencers.

In truth, Dubai has develop into a worldwide influencer hub in recent times, with an estimated 50,000 calling the vacation spot residence.

Last 12 months, fashionable YouTuber and tech investor Oli White introduced that he was leaving London for Dubai, whereas Irish influencer Aideen Kate additionally relocated to the emirate in 2025.

Its tax-free standing and sunny local weather have proved alluring for a lot of, together with its record-breaking skyscrapers, gigantic buying malls and man-made islands.

“Influencers are arriving faster than brunch reservations fill up on a Saturday. Every day, new digital personalities touch down at [Dubai International] with a dream, a camera, and a game plan,” Samet Özetçi, co-founder of Walther Kranz Agency, informed Arabian Business in 2025.

Dubai has honed in on this by launching a authorities marketing campaign, the Creators HQ, geared toward entrepreneurs and introducing a renewable 10-year “Golden Visa,” whereas the Beautiful Destinations Academy, which describes itself because the “world’s first” devoted coaching program for journey content material creators, launched in Dubai final 12 months.

Up till very lately, the Dubai hashtag has immediately conjured up fastidiously curated influencer posts displaying an expensive way of life stuffed with enjoyable and glamor.

However, these picture-perfect photos are sometimes dismissed as ads that ignore the far much less glamorous points within the vacation spot, together with human rights abuses.

The Iran strikes have understandably been dominating current social media posts.

“We fled one place searching for peace, and last night reminded us how fragile that feeling of safety can be. It was terrifying,” mannequin and influencer Petra Ecclestone wrote in a put up shared on the weekend, describing Saturday as “one of the scariest, worst nights of my life.”

“It was terrifying. But we are safe.”

Content creator Nicole Meera, 25, who moved to Dubai in 2022 with the goal of creating her profession, was additionally gained over by the vacation spot’s “safe” status. However, she’s been “reconsidering a lot of things” because the assaults started.

“A lot of us are kind of just in shock and trying to process what’s happening,” Meera tells CNN Travel, earlier than admitting that feeling secure was one thing that she had come to “take for granted” after dwelling there for 3 years.

“You never really expect that somewhere like Dubai would be affected by that, even though we are relatively close.”

Meera was alerted to the information of strikes by a textual content from her mom, who’s based mostly in Europe, on Saturday, however didn’t notice the severity of the state of affairs till her boyfriend messaged her to ask if she’d “heard the bombs.”

“I hadn’t realized that we were actually being striked,” she says. “I hadn’t heard anything up until that point. So that kind of really shifted everything.”

Later that night, Meera started listening to “loud noises,” earlier than seeing “missiles being intercepted right above our heads.”

The surprising scenes have been documented by a number of influencers within the emirate, together with DJ Will Bailey, who shared a video of himself on the decks at a Dubai seaside membership as missiles have been being launched close by.

‘That was meters away from us, have a look at this,” Bailey says within the clip, posted on his Instagram account, whereas turning the digital camera to indicate flames engulfing the Fairmont The Palm resort. “Oh my God.”

Meanwhile, an Australian Dubai-based influencer shared a video of herself reacting to missiles within the skyline.

“I’m scared. I’m actually so scared,” the lady says within the clip, which has since been deleted. “It’s not meant to be happening here.”

While the video was largely mocked on-line for being “tone deaf,” the general sentiment is one which appears to be shared by many worldwide residents in Dubai, who’re struggling to reconcile the occasions happening.

In the times because the first strikes in Dubai, UAE authorities have warned content material creators that posts considered dangerous to “national unity” or the status of the state might result in penalties, and even jail time, a transfer that appears to have prompted some to delete movies from their accounts.

YouTuber and wonder editor Lauren O’Connell, who moved from the US to Dubai in 2009, says she’s “never, ever felt unsafe” because the emirate “takes security very seriously.”

O’Connell has been posting about her experiences over the previous couple of days, describing the occasions as “surreal,” whereas reaffirming her confidence in her “beloved Dubai.”

“Dubai is where I feel safest in the world, even now during the Iranian attacks…” O’Connell tells CNN Travel by way of electronic mail.

“Even seeing intercepted missiles from my window, I remain calm because I trust the leadership and the systems here.”

This “Keep calm and carry on” sentiment appears to be echoed by many different worldwide residents, in keeping with Meera, who has been primarily staying in her house, whereas attempting to stick to recommendation from the authorities to “stay away from windows.”

“We’ve got huge windows facing us that are pretty hard to stay away from,” she notes.

Like many others, Meera is taking issues day-to-day, and ready to “see if it gets worse.”

“I have a roof over my head, and everything is fine,” she says. “But there’s still missiles ahead of us… “There’s still that danger. So definitely, if the situation gets worse, I would consider leaving and going back home.”

The UK Foreign Office at present advises towards all however important journey to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE, and constitution flights are being organized for these stranded in affected areas of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the US has urged Americans to go away 14 nations within the Middle East together with the UAE.

“I think that uncertainty is definitely the biggest concern,” says Meera. “Now people are saying, ‘Oh, it’s kind of calmed down.”

However, “what’s happening is still happening,” she provides. “Every day we’re receiving updates on how many missiles and drones have been intercepted.”

So because the safe and secure picture Dubai spent so lengthy cultivating crumbles, is a mass exodus imminent?

For O’Connell, returning residence is just not a consideration, at current not less than, because it “would feel like turning my back on family when it needs us the most.”

“There is such a sense of pride and patriotism here for many of us who are not citizens,” she says. “I totally consider within the leaders and that they’ll restore peace.

“Dubai has shown the world many times that it knows how to navigate challenges with strength and stability.”

But as the newest Middle East battle continues to widen, and the query, “You live in Dubai, aren’t you scared?” continues to be requested, it stays to be seen whether or not the influencers of Dubai will proceed to share the identical response.