Why are Indian agencies and influencers building bases in Dubai?

New Delhi: Scroll through Instagram, YouTube Shorts, or even music launch reels, and a pattern becomes impossible to ignore. From real estate walkthroughs to song promotions, from luxury hauls to reality TV after-parties, influencer culture today has a postcode and it’s Dubai. 

This isn’t accidental. Dubai has stopped being only a filming location and started functioning as the operating system of the global influencer marketing industry. Agencies are shifting contracts. Creators are relocating bases. Global influencers like Oli White and Aideen Kate moved their base to Dubai last year and so did Indian beauty influencer Malvika Sitlani. Even brands are planning launches backward from Dubai visuals. 

The city has positioned itself not just as aspirational, but operationally indispensable.

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Policies that aid agency economy

As Karan Pherwani, VP at Chtrbox, pointed out, “Dubai offers a business-friendly ecosystem with favorable tax structures and streamlined processes for contract management.” For influencer agencies juggling creators, brands, and cross-border campaigns, that operational ease matters. 

But as Kalyan Ram Challapalli, Founder and Chief of Global Strategy at Wolfzhowl, argued, Dubai’s pull goes even deeper. “Agencies are moving influencer work to Dubai because it’s solving problems that most markets haven’t even named yet.”

One such problem is legality. “Start with the 2026 Advertiser Licence. It’s mandatory, and it gives agencies something they rarely get elsewhere: enforceable contracts.” In a market where influencer disputes over payments, ownership, and deliverables are common, Dubai offers clarity. Influence here comes with legal teeth.

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Add tax incentives and the Golden Visa Programme, and creators aren’t just visiting Dubai. They’re committing to it.

The proof is everywhere. Remember when Danube Properties sponsored Bigg Boss? The show ended in Mumbai, but the real influencer economy began post-finale. Contestants were flown to Dubai. A success party followed. And then came the avalanche, reels upon reels showcasing properties, skyline views, aspirational living. That wasn’t celebratory content; it was a masterclass in influencer-led real estate marketing at scale. Danube didn’t just host the party. It monetised the moment.

According to Pherwani, “The fundamental difference lies in budget scales and brand ambitions.” Dubai attracts luxury, lifestyle, and premium brands that don’t see influencer marketing as experimental spend. They see it as brand-building infrastructure. “Campaign budgets are typically 3–5x higher than comparable Indian campaigns,” he noted. A shift that transforms creators from short-term amplifiers into long-term partners.

This is why Dubai keeps appearing across categories. Real estate reels, hospitality launches, fashion drops, even song promotions increasingly originate here. The city sells success without needing explanation. “Dubai provides a culturally neutral, aspirational canvas that resonates across diverse audiences,” Pherwani explained. Content shot here doesn’t feel regional. It feels global by default.

That neutrality is powerful. A reel filmed in Dubai can run in India, the Middle East, and among diaspora audiences without losing relevance. It’s aspiration without localisation. And brands know this.

But aspiration alone doesn’t explain why agencies are shifting contracts and operations. Infrastructure does. “The creator economy actually works as a business here, not just as a content hustle,” Challapalli said.

This structural maturity has also reshaped how creators see themselves. “Creators are starting to see themselves as businesses, not just personalities or ‘attention maximisers’,” Challapalli observed.  Dubai reinforces that mindset through licensing, long-term visas, and access to capital, a clear signal that influence here is meant to scale, not spike.

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India, by contrast, plays a different role. “India’s influencer market moves fast and messy,” Challapalli said bluntly. It thrives on scale, speed, and cultural intimacy. Dubai, meanwhile, is “structured, tightly managed, brand-controlled, and premium.” Agencies aren’t choosing one over the other; they’re assigning roles.

That distinction is crucial. As Pherwani noted, “Brands in India view influencer marketing as part of integrated global strategies rather than standalone digital campaigns.” Dubai becomes the anchor for those global narratives, while India remains the engine for volume, frequency, and hyperlocal relevance.

The customer differentiation 

Cost reflects that division. “Dubai-based influencers will charge Indian brands more,” Challapalli acknowledged, “but you’re paying for something specific.” That premium buys access to audiences with spending power, cleaner brand alignment, and reach beyond a single market. Everyday performance marketing stays in India. Signalling, credibility, and global positioning increasingly move to Dubai.

This is where diaspora influence enters the picture. “Dubai creators targeting the Indian and Arab diaspora carry money and cross-cultural weight,” Challapalli explained. They sit inside consumption ecosystems that convert faster. Meanwhile, India-based creators offer linguistic fluency and ground-level trust. Influence, today, is fragmented, split across aspiration, geography, and identity.

Dubai thrives precisely because it sits at that intersection. And this is why brands keep coming back. As Pherwani put it, “Dubai’s association with success and aspiration amplifies brand messaging in ways that feel organic rather than forced.” Add government support for digital creators, and the city’s intentions become clear. “The emirate understands that influencer marketing drives tourism, retail, and real estate sectors,” he said.

Challapalli agreed, but with a caveat. “Being based in Dubai turns influencer marketing into a global commerce-and-marketing command centre,” he said, “but that power introduces clear trade-offs.” Dubai makes sense when the goal is premium positioning or regional scale. It doesn’t replace India’s efficiency for reach or cultural iteration.

The danger lies in lazy strategy. “The mistake is using one for the other’s job,” Challapalli warned. Brands that treat Dubai as a one-size-fits-all solution will overpay or underperform. Those that understand its role, aspiration, compliance, and global signalling will extract disproportionate value.

The conclusion is unavoidable. Dubai isn’t winning influencer culture because it looks good on camera (even though it does). It’s winning because it aligned aspiration with systems, reels with regulation, and creators with careers. It turned influence into infrastructure. Today, Dubai is no longer the background of influencer marketing. It’s the base camp. And every serious player, whether already there or planning to be, knows exactly why.