Dubai is going viral for creating an “influencer academy,” where hopeful internet stars will get paid to record their travels in the city for the possibility of snagging a full-time job.
Forget being a doctor or a lawyer; studies show over half of Gen Zers want to be influencers, and Dubai is working to make that happen.
The UAE city has launched the “Beautiful Destinations Academy,” which will start accepting applications for four hopeful influencers to come live in the ‘City of Gold’ as of May 2025.
During their three-month stay, these four budding internet stars will learn skills like marketing, video editing, branding and cinematography, as well as getting educated on Dubai’s tourism industry and “professional ethics and acumen.”
Students will train for five days a week, and are encouraged to post “freely” about their time staying in the city. In exchange, these four stars will get to stay in an all-expenses paid luxury apartment, earn a liveable salary and even get access to Dubai’s “most stunning and exclusive locations, normally reserved for celebrities and royalty.”
At the end of their course, the students will earn a certificate from the Dubai College of Tourism — but only the “really special ones” will score a full-time job with Beautiful Destinations when everything’s said and done.
Dubai is paying influencers for glitzy training “academy”
In a statement to The Times UK, Jeremy Jauncey, Chief Executive of Beautiful Destinations, emphasized that the four chosen trainees are not being pressured in any way to post content whatsoever.
“We’re not looking for hosts, we’re not looking for presenters, we’re not looking for people that want to build a career in front of the camera,” Jauncey explained. “It’s very much about, ‘What’s your ability to tell a travel story?’”
Dubai’s influencer academy will train four hopeful internet stars – but if you want to apply, you’ll have to submit a 60-second travel video to showcase your skills.
On top of this, Janucey says he wants the students to “have the freedom to tell all the stories they want to tell and make the content they want to make.”
Chief Executive of Visit Dubai, Issam Kazim, also chimed in on the “influencer academy,” calling it a “testament to our commitment to fostering creativity, innovation and excellence in the tourism sector.”
Applicants must submit a 60-second travel video to showcase their skills in video editing and storytelling.
Dubai has certainly been viral on social media as of late. In fact, a confection called ‘Dubai Chocolate’ has become so popular on social media that it has caused an international shortage in pistachios.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.