However, supporting stricken destinations does not have to cost the earth. When the media exaggerates the negative aspects of a country, why not write to the journalists? Why not use social media to correct wrong impressions? This sort of activity costs you only your time. If they can afford it, operators can send journalists and run fam trips to a destination as soon as it is safe to do so. And how about contacting the tourist boards, encouraging them to run fact-finding trips to demonstrate what conditions are really like?

Remember that local staff, who’ve given excellent service to your clients in the good years, may be struggling to survive. Running an evening event in your travel agency to raise money for local staff could also involve your clients, thus keeping a stricken destination in their minds.

If you doubt that operators and agents can make a difference, just look at Nepal. Struck by a series of earthquakes, the country benefited enormously from the fund-raising activities of many tour operators who created a huge, generous and practical response to the dramatic disaster, showcasing both their generosity and that of their clients.

Should we solely concentrate on marketing and selling those destinations that make us money?

Or could each operator, and each agency, think about ways to help Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and any other currently unpopular countries that you connect with? It might be a list of media to write to, and ideas – fund-raising or promotional – that your staff can come up with to help destinations currently out of favour.

Perhaps we have a moral obligation not to turn our backs when the margins disappear – or are we only interested when there’s money to be made?