The head of an influencer travel company has revealed he warned celebrities enjoying free holidays in Dubai not to post “insensitive” pictures from their trips.
Keith Herman is the CEO of Trending Travel, a company which dishes out free holidays to celebrities in return for them plugging the destination and the packages on offer.
The organisation has previously worked with Love Island stars Jess Shears and Don Lever, Strictly’s Saffron Barker, Ashley Roberts and Corrie’s Katie McGlynn.
Speaking in the BBC’s Newcast podcast, Keith revealed he had several stars who were out in Dubai at the start of the year.
There’s been growing outrage at home over celebs flaunting their luxury holidays after the country was plunged into a tough new lockdown – and Keith said he warned his stars not to share snaps of their breaks online.
He feared he would be “insensitive” for celebrities to be seen sharing pictures from abroad while death rates and hospital admissions in the UK soared.
(Image: Getty Images/Juice Images RF)
Keith said: “At the moment, there are a couple still aboard but they’re coming back to these shores now – a lot of them started out there way before the lockdown and pretty much all of them are coming home.
“Some of them to be fair did extend, which is understandable cos they didn’t want to come back to lockdown. There are still a couple who have yet to come home.”
He went on to explain he had several celebrities in Dubai as the public backlash grew, and they were told not to post their pictures.
(Image: Getty Images/Canopy)
Keith said: “We did have people in Dubai… Here in Manchester we went from tier 3 to 4 to lockdown…
“We sort of made the decision to ask the influencers not to post, we thought it was pretty insensitive at that point.
“There were influencers out there that we’d sent out, but there was a very fine divided line of should they be posting, shouldn’t they be posting, and we felt it was the wrong thing to do.”
When asked whether it was the right thing for the celebs to go out to Dubai in the first place, Keith explained: “In same breaths you could argue it’s just advertising, like the ads on telly telling us to go away but…
(Image: chloegshore1/Instagram)
“Each one of them had a good reason to go, whether we feel it was a good reason or not – none of them work for us. They are individuals, it’s up to them whether they feel it should be there or not.”
Keith also commented on the backlash facing other stars who have been posting pictures of their trips – and insisted they shouldn’t be complaining.
He went on: “Some of them who have caught it [the backlash] out there have brought it on themselves ‘cos they’re posting.
“No I don’t think they should complain about it, if you go on social media… you’re in the public eye, you have to be careful what you do.”
Earlier this month, The Mirror reported that Love Island stars were being bombarded with abuse and even death threats after showing off in the sunshine on foreign jaunts.
(Image: Instagram)
One agent of a star who had travelled to Dubai told how they had been inundated with messages saying they’d hoped she died from Covid.
They said: “We manage their social media accounts and I’ve seen a number of death threats in direct messages.
“It’s been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it’s a terrible look, but they ignored it.”
Some stars left the UK for Dubai when their local area was still under Tier 2 or 3 – when the advice about travelling overseas was less strict. Others left areas in Tier 4, including London, that were placed into restrictions on December 19.
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Going abroad is permitted for work reasons under Tier 4 if your job cannot be done at home.
The agent said: “You have to remember a lot of what constitutes work for them is doing vlogs or posting Instagram shots advertising diet drinks.
“It’s work but in a very loose sense. But it’s enough to allow them to travel. The free hotels offered in return for publicity are doubtless a nice perk too.
“But it has gone down like a lead balloon with their fans, and you have to wonder if it’s really worth it.”
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