A new marketing campaign from Dubai Tourism starring Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi has been released. The six-minute video points towards the luxury emirate wanting to pull in a younger set of travelers, using the two early-20s stars to show off various inexpensive parts of the city.
In the video, Brown and Bongiovi visit spots including Al Seef district, the Museum of the Future, Burj Khalifa, and parts of the Al Qudra desert. It’s the latest in a series of celebrity-led brand films under Dubai Tourism’s broader push to engage new international audiences through storytelling and consumer advocacy.
Earlier campaigns in 2024 included “Dubai: A Whole New You,” featuring Bollywood duo Saif and Sara Ali Khan, and “Dubai: Who’s Ready?,” starring Korean actors Park Shin-Hye and Park Hyung-Sik from Netflix’s “Doctor Slump.”
Other stars featured in past efforts include Zac Efron and Jessica Alba (“A Romance to Remember”); Shah Rukh Khan (“Dubai Presents”), and Gwyneth Paltrow, Zoe Saldana, and Kate Hudson (“A Story Takes Flight”).
Celebrity-Driven Approach
Speaking at the Skift Global Forum in September 2024, Dubai Tourism CEO Issam Kazim discussed the use of celebrities in its campaigns.
He said: “At this point, it has changed quite a bit, we have a lot of celebrities visiting Dubai, so we’re not relying on them the same way we did in the past. If celebrities can genuinely show an organic experience… we do not seek celebrities who have not been to Dubai. We work with celebrities who genuinely love Dubai and visit frequently.”
“Over the past few years, we’ve leveraged celebrities and influences to bring attention to what’s happening in Dubai. Now we’re shifting from that and using real people and real families to talk about why Dubai is home for them.”
Dubai Tourism did not respond to a request seeking comment.
While recent tourism data doesn’t break down visitor ages, 2019 figures showed that 71% of Dubai’s visitors were aged 25 to 44. In 2023, 80% of all travelers were couples or families, with just 10% visiting as a group of friends and only 7% traveling solo.
Brown’s appearance, then, could help position Dubai as a more appealing option for travelers under 25 — a segment that may not have previously considered the city.
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