Lemon Tree Hotels Targets UAE, Thailand, and Maldives to Follow Indian Travelers Abroad

Lemon Tree Hotels is preparing to expand into more overseas markets frequented by Indian travelers, targeting the UAE, Thailand, and the Maldives as the Indian hotel group looks to take its brands beyond its home market. Lemon Tree already has operations in Nepal and Dubai. “Go where your customers go,” Executive Chairman Patanjali Keswani said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call Monday, arguing that Indian hotel companies can now use their domestic customer base as a springboard for international expansion. About 45% of Lemon Tree’s demand comes from repeat guests, Keswani said. But only about half of those repeat customers are enrolled in the company’s roughly 2.5 million-member loyalty program, leaving what he described as an opportunity to deepen the relationship with customers when they travel overseas. The company is prioritizing destinations within roughly three hours’ flying time of India where large numbers of Indians alre