Dubai influencers, celebrities and expats fleeing Iranian strikes scattered to sunny alternatives like Thailand, the Maldives and Bali – but many have since returned.
Iranian drone and missile strikes on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) saw thousands return to the UK, while some wealthy Westerners are shifting to tax-friendly European locations like Switzerland or heading to Southern Europe.
It is estimated around 30,000 of the roughly 240,000 British residents in the UAE left the tax-free haven after the conflict erupted in February.
Former England footballer Rio Ferdinand and his wife Kate were among those who left Dubai, first to their home in Portugal before taking a trip to the Maldives.
However, after a ceasefire was declared recently, they have since returned to the Emirati city, where they own a £6.5m mansion.
Former Love Island and Geordie Shore star Sam Gowland relocated to Thailand, while Petra Ecclestone and her husband Sam Palmer have been holidaying in Italy, Japan and have been back in the UK.
Rio and Kate Ferdinand left Dubai for the Maldives after conflict in the Gulf flared, but they have since returned (Photo: xkateferdinand/Instagram)Marc von Grundherr, director of estate agent Benham and Reeves, which has an office in Dubai, rejected suggestions that the departure of influencers amounted to an “exodus”.
While some had left temporarily, often for a matter of days or weeks, many have already returned and a large proportion of long-term expats never left in the first place, he said.
“We have, however, seen a notable increase in enquiries from Dubai-based British nationals and influencers since the conflict began, with demand up by around 10 per cent to 15 per cent,” he told The i Paper.
“These enquiries are not necessarily being driven by a desire to leave Dubai permanently, but rather by a wish to create a contingency plan or diversify their property holdings in case the situation escalates.”
The main destinations they were seeing clients consider are Portugal and Southern Europe, where a similar lifestyle, strong international communities and straightforward access via Schengen visas are available.
“The Maldives and Mauritius have also proved popular as temporary luxury bases, while a number of British clients have been looking back towards London and the wider UK, particularly those with existing family, schooling or business links here,” he added.
But tax experts have warned that British nationals heading back to the UK could face tax bills of millions of pounds if they stay longer than tax residency rules allow, with Britons being advised to go on long trips to avoid falling foul of the rules.
A reported Iranian air strike at Dubai airport. Similar attacks resulted in major disruption to Middle Eastern air traffic (Photo: AFP)Amal Shah, an accountant with Gerald Edelman, said influencers in Dubai, making income from fees, gifts, advertising sponsorship and social media income pay no tax on those earnings while they are there.
He said: “What we are seeing is a lot of them basically paused their stint in Dubai. They’re exploring potential destinations for where they will end up, but a lot of them that are kind of social media influencers, where it’s just lifestyle based, they’re just going around the world at the moment.
“Especially to the Far East, I’ve seen lots just go to Bali, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India wherever. They are just travelling. Keeping their accounts open, making income but not settling on tax residency fully.”
Some influencers with families had left the UAE for the last couple of months after schools closed and moved to remote classes due to security concerns, he added.
However, the majority of their clients were still in Dubai and weren’t looking to come back to the UK or anywhere else, Shah added, with some staying at luxury resorts like the five-star Fairmont The Palm Hotel, which was struck by a drone and set alight at the start of the war.
“They temporarily went elsewhere or came back to the UK, but now they’re back there, a lot of them,” he said.
But it’s not just influencers who have been fleeing as the UAE reported more missile and drone attacks from Iran, despite the ceasefire agreed with the US.
Former Love Island star Sam Gowland relocated from Dubai to Thailand (Photo: Sam Gowland/Instagram)Simon Incir, a broker based in Switzerland for luxury estate agency Engel & Völkers, has seen a 15 per cent increase in enquiries from wealthy Dubai foreigners wanting to relocate.
Most of those coming were families, with Italian, Germans, Swiss and British nationals among those swapping Dubai’s stifling heat for Swiss mountain air.
Many are looking to relocate to Lugano, an idyllic Swiss-Italian lakeside city, and Zug, a German-speaking canton popular with financiers and entrepreneurs as a business centre and tax haven.
“Many are, let’s say, independent traders, or just wealthy families that they were living in Dubai,” Incir said. “People deciding to relocate here are more people that are not attached to a workplace.
“So it’s not about expats working for big companies. It’s more people with big wealth that are indifferent where they live, because they can either work from home or they don’t need to work.”
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