Lemon Tree Hotels is gearing up to accelerate its overseas expansion over the next three to five years as more Indians choose international destinations for leisure travel, according to a senior company executive. As outbound tourism gathers pace, the company aims to align its global footprint with evolving travel patterns.
India is on track to become the world’s fourth-largest outbound tourism market by 2035, moving up from tenth place and ranking behind the United States, China, and Germany, according to reports. Against this backdrop, Lemon Tree Hotels sees a clear opportunity to follow Indian travellers into key international markets. “We would like to go where the Indian traveller is going,” said Neelendra Singh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, in an interview, while pointing to destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore as natural extensions for the brand.
Currently, the midscale hospitality chain operates five hotels outside India, including two properties in Nepal and Bhutan and one in the UAE, out of a portfolio that exceeds 120 hotels globally. In comparison, other Indian hotel groups with luxury brands, such as Indian Hotels Company and EIH Limited, also maintain relatively limited international presences.
Despite its overseas ambitions, Lemon Tree Hotels continues to prioritise domestic growth and has a pipeline of more than 120 hotels, with India remaining its core market for the near term. The company owns and operates multiple brands, including Aurika, Red Fox, and Keys Select, and currently ranks as India’s third-largest homegrown hotel chain by number of rooms, behind Indian Hotels and ITC Hotels, which operates the Fortune and Welcomhotel brands. Singh reiterated that the company remains committed to its existing strategy and views international expansion as a medium-term objective.
Meanwhile, within India, Lemon Tree Hotels is exploring opportunities to integrate unbranded properties into its network through a predominantly franchise-led approach. This move targets India’s large independent hotel segment, nearly half of which remains unbranded, according to industry estimates. Additionally, in January, the company announced plans to transfer all hotel ownership to its subsidiary Fleur and transition into a fully asset-light model, a step that will result in two publicly listed entities within the next 12 to 15 months.
