The travel and tourism industry should focus more on domestic travellers, as “very few” foreign tourists are likely to visit India in the next two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official of a hospitality major said on Monday.

The industry is also expected to be the last to recover from the crisis, he said. “Due to COVID-19, we expect very few foreigners to travel to India in the current year and for the following two years.

“Therefore, the hospitality industry must concentrate on domestic travellers and we are well positioned to serve them,” Executive Chairman of EIH Ltd, PRS Oberoi said. EIH runs hotels and resorts under the Oberoi and Trident brands. He said since early March, the “unprecedented disruption” due to the pandemic has affected the travel industry most and it will “probably be the last to recover”.

“The impact on revenue and profitability in the first quarter of the current fiscal is due to the coronavirus situation. I am optimistic the tourism industry will tide over the crisis and grow again when the pandemic is behind us,” Oberoi told PTI.

EIH reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 152.06 crore for the quarter ended June. It had posted a net loss of Rs 1.13 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Consolidated total income stood at Rs 44.62 crore during the quarter under consideration as against Rs 358.22 crore a year ago.