Emirates Opens $8 Million Hospitality Centre to UAE Companies

Emirates has opened its USD 8 million Centre of Hospitality Excellence in Dubai to outside organizations, selling training built on the same standards it applies to its more than 25,000 cabin crew.

The facility sits inside the Emirates Crew Training Centre and holds a restaurant and lounge seating up to 170 people, demonstration kitchens and eight classrooms fitted with training technology. Government bodies, universities and major regional companies have already sent teams through programs since the airline began offering them externally.

"Delivering exceptional hospitality requires more than technical training, it demands a deep understanding of people, culture and service excellence," said Thomas Ney, Emirates' divisional senior vice president of service delivery. "By opening the Centre of Hospitality Excellence to organisations across the UAE, we are proud to share this expertise and help inspire the next generation of hospitality professionals."

That is a marketing claim, not a verified product. Emirates did not disclose pricing, client names or volumes. The airline also did not say how much revenue it expects from the venture.

What can companies book?

Programs run one to five days and are tailored per client. The module list includes:

• Hospitality Excellence — an introduction to Emirates' "House of Hospitality" approach, starting with an analysis of the client team's training gaps
• 7-Star Dining Experience — table settings, etiquette, presentation and guest interaction
• L'Art du Vin — wine theory, tasting and food pairing, taught by WSET Level 3-certified trainers
• Gastronomy — a hands-on workshop with Emirates chefs covering cooking techniques, flavor and plating
• Team building — custom challenges and cooking activities
• Leadership at Emirates — talks by Emirates executives on how the airline runs operations and service strategy
• Behind-the-scenes tours — access to aircraft simulators and culinary training areas, with catering, photography and video available as extras

Emirates can combine modules into fully customized programs that include assessments and dining experiences. Booking goes through email.

Where Emirates crew learn to serve

The centre is central to how Emirates trains its cabin crew. The workforce of 25,000-plus comes from over 140 countries and speaks more than 70 languages. New recruits complete an eight-week course in Dubai covering safety, security, first aid, service and grooming standards, with sessions in full-motion aircraft simulators.

One exercise puts crew in the passenger's seat. They eat a four-course lunch of signature First and Business Class dishes, prepared by Emirates' chefs, while trainers demonstrate how the service should run. The training kitchen is built as a hybrid of a restaurant kitchen and an aircraft galley — that is where crew learn plating.

The L'Art du Vin wine program, launched in 2024, has three levels. It teaches crew about the wines Emirates serves on board and which dishes they pair with.

What does this change for Emirates?

The centre rests on a hospitality strategy Emirates developed in 2020 with the École hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland, built on four pillars: excellence, attentiveness, innovation and passion.

The commercial question is whether a training arm can scale. Emirates faces labor and service-standard pressure as it expands, and monetizing internal capability is a low-capital way to extract value from an asset it already runs for its own crew. But with no published fees, client list or capacity figures, the venture's size remains unverifiable.

What is certain is the facility exists, carries an $8 million price tag and already hosts external teams. Whether it becomes a business line or a branding exercise will show in disclosed clients and utilization figures Emirates has yet to publish.