Dubai has taken a bold step towards achieving its tourism targets, launching the Beautiful Destinations Academy, an industry-first travel content creator academy to meet the rising demand for skilled marketing talent within the tourism sector.
The Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Visit Dubai), in partnership with Beautiful Destinations, has recently announced the launch of the academy, a pioneering professional development initiative aimed at setting new, global benchmarks for travel content creation.
“The launch of this innovative program with Beautiful Destinations is a testament to our commitment to fostering creativity, innovation and excellence in the tourism sector. By providing a dedicated space for content creators, we aim to amplify Dubai’s global appeal and further solidify our position as the best city to visit, live, and work in,” stated Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Dubai emerges as creator economy hub
With digital content now central to travel decision-making, Dubai’s Beautiful Destinations Academy addresses the sector’s strong demand for the specialist skills needed to create high-impact, platform-native content required to influence today’s travellers.
“This aligns perfectly with the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, and our vision to make Dubai a leading global city for business and leisure. Thanks to a diverse range of offerings and experiences, Dubai provides an unrivalled platform for capturing creative, engaging content, and we look forward to working with Beautiful Destinations and content creators from around the world to amplify their storytelling globally,” added Kazim.
The partnership strengthens Dubai’s position as a global hub for the growing creator economy, which, according to Goldman Sachs, could approach half a trillion dollars by 2027. The initiative also aligns with the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, which is cementing Dubai’s status as the world’s best city to visit, live and work in.
Global benchmark for travel content creation
The Beautiful Destinations Academy in Dubai will set a new global benchmark for quality in travel content creation. By introducing formal standards tailored to digital creators working within the tourism sector, it brings structure, credibility and accountability to a previously informal field of work.
“Dubai is a leading innovator in tourism marketing – a like-minded partner that shares our future-focused vision,” commented Jeremy Jauncey, CEO and founder of Beautiful Destinations.
The Beautiful Destinations Academy’s curriculum is designed to develop both creative and commercial skills, combining technical proficiency with marketing principles. The academy represents a significant innovation in the business model of tourism marketing, helping future-proof the industry by fostering a community of specialist and highly-skilled digital talent.
It also offers destinations and hospitality brands access to a curated network of certified creators while building a sustainable and scalable pipeline of professionals with the digital skills required to meet the sector’s evolving demands.
Specialized talent to address key market gap
“Leading research shows that 76 percent of travel decisions are now influenced by social media content, yet only 24 percent of tourism and hospitality brands have in-house teams capable of creating the calibre of content that drives engagement. The Beautiful Destinations Academy, Powered by Dubai, directly addresses this gap by cultivating a new generation of specialized talent,” added Jauncey.
A key priority of the program is nurturing diverse talent from all markets, helping to ensure that tourism marketing reflects a broader spectrum of perspectives and aesthetic approaches.
“We’re essentially creating a new professional category within the tourism ecosystem,” noted Jauncey. “Our ambition is that having Beautiful Destinations Academy certification will become the industry standard for content creators specializing in travel marketing, similar to how other professional designations function in hospitality and tourism management,” he added.
