Lemon Tree Hotels Eyes 10% Market Share In India By 2030

Lemon Tree Hotels aims to operate as well as create a pipeline of 30,000-35,000 rooms by 2030, according to the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Patanjali Keswani. Achieving this target will enable the company to reach 10% of market share in the domestic hotels and hospitality industry.

“I would say that by 2030, I would be very disappointed, if we did not have something like 30,000-35,000 rooms operating and in the pipeline, which will give us about 10% of India's market share,” he said during a conversation with NDTV Profit on Tuesday.

The company currently manages nearly 11,000 operating rooms and its pipeline comprises around 7,500 rooms. Keswani expects the latter to become operational within three years.

For the overall sector this year, Keswani expects "early to mid-teens revenue growth". However, he also noted a potential slowdown. "I just get a sense that there is some slowdown in consumption," he added.

The CMD outlined a critical inflection point in the economy, where a rapidly growing number of households are reaching an annual income of around Rs 35 lakh.

“That is the magic number that occurred in China. It was calculated at $8,000 per capita. If the economy grows at 6% for the next five years, the number of consumers booking branded hotel rooms will grow 3X,” the top executive added.

Keswani also shared plans to transform Lemon Tree Hotels into a global brand. He noted that 30 million Indians travelled abroad in 2024, compared to just 10 million foreign visitors to India. He sees immense potential in catering to outbound Indian travellers.

“If three times the number of Indians are going out, why would I focus on the incoming, why would I not follow these 30 million who I estimate will grow to 100 million as happened in China by 2011,” the top executive highlighted.

“I'm pretty sure there'll be two or three hotel companies in India who will be large players on the global stage in the next 10 to 15 years,” he added.

The company is already present in Bhutan, Nepal and Dubai. The leading hotel chain is eyeing further expansion in key markets like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Thailand and Nepal.

“The most exciting markets for an Indian company in the hotel business right now are the UAE and Thailand,” the MD said.

Shares of Lemon Tree Hotels closed 2.24% higher at Rs 145.29 apiece on the NSE, while the benchmark Nifty50 ended 0.4% lower at 24,487.4.