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As tensions rise in the Gulf, expatriates in Dubai are taking to social media to assert that the city remains the “safest place on Earth.” This comes as anxious tourists and British citizens rush to secure flights back home, with some resorting to spending up to £100,000 on private jets to escape the escalating situation.
Despite an impressive online push to portray Dubai as a safe haven, the region has been hit by Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks, leading to airport disruptions and mass flight cancellations, leaving many Britons eager to return home.
The UAE government maintains that its air defense systems are effectively neutralizing most threats. However, sources suggest that the polished Instagram posts may not reflect the underlying anxiety many residents feel.
Reports indicate that influencers in Dubai are apprehensive about expressing concerns publicly, fearing repercussions such as deportation, imprisonment, or the loss of their homes.
One Dubai-based content creator revealed to the Daily Mail, “People are scared to say anything negative,” highlighting the unease beneath the surface of curated social media content.
‘Influencers have huge followings and they know they’re being watched. Many feel they’ve been warned not to create panic online.’
In the UAE, criticising the government, spreading rumours or damaging the country’s reputation can carry fines of up to £200,000 or prison sentences of up to five years – followed by deportation.
The result, critics say, is an atmosphere where influencers and celebrities are careful to echo the official message that Dubai remains calm and open for business.
Frightened holidaymakers and British nationals scramble for flights home, with some families paying up to £100,000 for private jets to escape the war-shaken Gulf state. Pictured: Dubai airport this week
The UAE government has cracked down on anyone reposting genuine footage of the first of the attacks on Saturday, which included drones or debris causing damage at the five-star Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai
Several well-known British influencers, including the likes of Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, have publicly defended the emirate as safe in recent days.
But others, however, have now revealed their desperation at trying to fly home – offering a glimpse into the true scale of fear in the Gulf.
Former Love Island star Laura Anderson, 36, managed to secure a flight to Edinburgh along with her two-year-old daughter Bonnie.
The influencer, who was visiting her sister, told followers that she was ‘praying for safe skies’.
Posting before her plane took off, she said: ‘We’re on. Although I’m taking each stage very lightly…The airport was quiet as expected. Calm, people were so helpful, I felt a bit teary.
‘Praying for safe skies (as I’ve always said when someone flies) it just means more now.
‘Everyone on board is very quiet, I assume on edge a little like me. My dad’s favourite song just came on, so I’m feeling positive.’
She appeared to then qualify her words, adding: ‘Thank you to the UAE government for protecting us and continuing to protect my friends and family. I will always be proud to have been an expat.’
Meanwhile, fellow Love Islander Sam Gowland revealed he was making his fourth attempt to leave Dubai on Wednesday.
The reality star, 30, shared a video of himself preparing to leave for the airport alongside the caption: ‘Last night’s flight again cancelled for the third time, somehow managed to find another one for 10am this morning! Fourth time lucky, let’s see.’
Within hours of the first retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on Saturday, the Dubai Media Office issued a stark warning about social media posts showing fires and damage in the city.
Officials claimed ‘outdated images of past incidents’ were being shared to spread fear.
‘Legal action will be taken against those who publish or republish such content in violation of UAE law,’ the statement said.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s The National newspaper – which has long faced accusations of being a state mouthpiece – reported on Wednesday that it was ‘business as usual’ in old Dubai.
A piece read: ‘The traditional souqs…are bustling, as visitors inspect wares, seek out discounts and take photos in front of the spice market. Labubus and Dubai-branded chocolates tempt tour groups from around the world. There is no visible sign of fear.’
Former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, 38, told her followers reports of Dubai ‘being bombed’ were ‘hyperbolic’.
Laura Anderson shared a photo from the plane and wrote: ‘Praying for safe skies (as I’ve always said when someone flys) it just means more now. Everyone on board is very quiet’
British socialite and influencer Petra Ecclestone, 37, seemed to depart from the official script when she told her followers: ‘We came to Dubai to feel safe, and we finally felt like we were settling in, and now this has happened’
She added: ‘Currently what we’ve been advised through government channels is that they are intercepting missiles competently and efficiently and what has subsequently caused damage and tragically harm is falling debris.’
Meanwhile former Apprentice contestant Luisa Zissman, who relocated to Dubai with her family, described it as ‘the safest country in the world’.
But the 38-year-old also admitted hearing explosions and revealed she had prepared her basement in case of emergency.
Sharing an update with followers, she said: ‘Last night was quite noisy but it’s kind of fine still here at the moment. It’s just not knowing what’s gonna happen next or when it’s going to end.’
British socialite and influencer Petra Ecclestone, 37, seemed to depart from the official script when she told her followers: ‘We came to Dubai to feel safe, and we finally felt like we were settling in, and now this has happened.’
But she then posted in her Instagram stories: ‘This is what safety feels like. This is what resilience looks like. This is UAE.’
Other European influencers have also come under fire for their insistence that all is well.
German fashion influencer Stefania Guarnieri shared a picture of her family on the beach and wrote: ‘Right now, missiles are being intercepted here in Dubai. And yet we feel safe.’
Another reality star Georgina Fleur posted a picture of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai, and wrote: ‘Aren’t you afraid? No, because I know they’re protecting us.’
On Tuesday, UAE authorities revealed three unnamed people had been killed and 68 others injured in Iranian attacks.
Its defence ministry said more than 755 of 812 drones had been intercepted and destroyed – meaning 57 bypassed air-defence systems.
Of 186 ballistic missiles launched, only one landed on UAE territory – hitting a luxury hotel – with 172 intercepted and destroyed and 13 falling into the sea.
The Iranian onslaught – which saw the state’s hub airport attacked and closed before ‘limited operations’ resumed on Wednesday – has led to a scramble among ordinary Brits to escape.
An estimated 94,000 are thought to be trapped in the crossfire across the Gulf, with strikes on military sites, oil refineries, airports and a hotel.
Some visitors say the atmosphere on the ground is more tense than the influencers claim on social media.
Mother-of-four Salli Oliver, 46, said her £6,500 half-board getaway turned into sheer terror when sirens blared on her phone warning of an incoming missile strike on Saturday.
The 46-year-old said she was ‘in limbo’ with engineer partner Kevin Pell, 39, and sons Jayden, 18, and Reece, 15.
Salli, from Grimsby, Lincs, said: ‘I was ringing my mum telling her I loved her because I honestly thought we were going to die.
‘There were women and kids in the basement on the floor crying.
‘It honestly felt like something out of a film.’
The shaken family later huddled five-to-a-bed, too frightened to sleep as jets roared above.
Now stranded and unsure if flights will resume, Sally says they feel abandoned.
Salli added: ‘I just want to get home to my other kids. They’re ringing us all the time worried out of their minds.
‘We’re meant to be flying on Thursday but our flight has been cancelled.
‘We’ve been given two extra days in the hotel but after that, we don’t know.
‘We’re stuck in limbo, really, and have got no answers.
‘It is just a complete nightmare. We just want to come home.’
While relieved Brits landing back at Heathrow described ‘terrifying’ scenes as areas hugely popular with western tourists were attacked, including Dubai’s five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel.
Isabel Robertson, 29, of Windsor, Berks, said: ‘The noises, it was terrifying, the explosions. I used to live there and it was my first time back in three years.’
Amy Maguire, 23, from Barrow, Cumbria, was also on the eight-hour flight out of Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport. She said the ordeal had been ‘horrifying’, adding: ‘The sounds have been horrendous. We had to go in this little room under the hotel.’
Scenes of confusion and exhaustion have played out at Dubai International Airport as hundreds of stranded passengers queue for the handful of flights now departing.
Across the region, more than 4,000 flights a day have been cancelled since the Iranian retaliation began, according to flight tracking data.
Some wealthy travellers are turning to private jets – with charter prices soaring to as much as £105,000 for a single flight.
Private flights from Muscat to Istanbul are meanwhile reportedly up for grabs at eye-watering fees of more than £70,000 – around double the normal rate, while private security firms have also been hiring SUVs to deliver clients to open airports to board private flights.
Families unable to secure aircraft seats are driving more than ten hours to airports in Oman or Saudi Arabia in hopes of escaping. The cost of hiring a minibus for the journey has risen from hundreds to thousands of pounds.
Dubai has spent years cultivating an image as a glamorous, ultra-safe playground for international influencers.
More than 50,000 content creators are estimated to be based in the city, attracted by sunshine, luxury and zero income tax.
The most successful can even receive renewable 10-year ‘Golden Visas’ for themselves and their families.
Critics argue this has created a powerful online marketing machine that shapes the world’s perception of the city.
Media commentator Marina Hyde recently claimed the crisis had exposed a weakness in that strategy.
Speaking on the The Rest is Entertainment podcast, she claimed that the attack on Dubai had ‘pulled the rug’ on the safety claim.
Ms Hyde said: ‘The thing that Dubai has used all of this army of people to say about itself is, in fact, suddenly not the case. It is not a place – currently – of safety.’
She added: ‘Their schtick has had the rug pulled underneath it. Because what you’re saying is that this is a place of great luxury and great safety, and suddenly it’s not.
‘And I think it’s very difficult with that many people who are out there creating content.’
Traffic on the city’s vast highways has thinned, beach clubs have closed and some residents are sheltering indoors.
Companies are reportedly paying tens – and in some cases hundreds – of thousands of pounds to evacuate employees from the region, according to insurance groups providing crisis-response protection.
One insurer said the total cost of evacuating a single family of four had climbed to as much as $250,000 (£187,500) when private jets were required.
Daria Guristrimba, who runs the Globe7 travel agency for wealthy individuals, told the Financial Times: ‘People were staying before [Tuesday], they were staying more or less calm, saying they will not leave.
‘Now they all understand that it’s going to take some time. Now people are leaving for Oman and leaving the country.’
‘We have seen a vast uplift in requests …with pets on board in the last 24 hours as families based in the region make the decision to totally remove themselves,’ added Charles Robinson, founder of EnterJet.
The UK Foreign Office has advised against all non-essential travel across the UAE.
While a limited number of flights have now resumed from Dubai and neighbouring Abu Dhabi, Qatar Airways planes remain grounded as Qatari airspace continues to be closed.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said repatriation flights would continue, with two chartered planes set to depart from Oman ‘in the coming days’.