On a normal Saturday this would be a great result – a whole afternoon of sport to lose myself in. But with all sport on hold amid these strange times, my banishment feels a whole lot less appealing.

Until, that is, I come across one of my favourite old films, Dodge City, a 1939 classic western starring Errol Flynn as a Texas cattle agent who takes up the job of sheriff to clean up the rampant lawlessness rife in the city.

And, as I relax into the storyline, it slowly begins to dawn on me that this tale of the Wild West is exactly how working in the travel industry has felt for the past week or so.

We have the CAA as the mayor, stubbornly determined to enforce ill- considered old laws that are clearly no longer apt or respected in the unruly times that have descended upon Travel Town.

Then there’s Abta as the town sheriff. A decent man of good intent, wanting to do the right thing by everyone, but who invariably tends to fall short on his promises to change things.

The airlines play the part of the local ranch owners. They protect their large estates with a ruthless self-interest, riding roughshod over anyone who dares to threaten their lands.

Tour operators run the saloons of Travel Town. Through the good times they play fair, but loyalty now counts for little and they’ll choose whichever side of the law they think is most likely to come up trumps for them.

And the God-fearing, rabble-rousing townsfolk? They’re the travel agents. With a Bible in one hand and a noose in the other, they preach from the moral high ground, before in the next breath convicting without judge or jury.

So, how will this story of Travel Town end? Who will be our Errol Flynn, restoring law, order, normality and a return to peace and prosperity?

That part of the script is as yet unwritten. I don’t think any of us can foretell where our industry is going to be next week or next month, let alone next year.

For most, I suspect getting through one day at a time is about as far as it goes right now.

What I do know is that the journey starts with us all coming together for the common good of our beloved industry.

For those who do make it through, it will be their duty to finally bring an end to the travel gold rush of living off customer money that sits at the root of all this Wild West behaviour.

If this is achieved, there will surely be a beautiful sunset for the travel industry to ride happily off into.

Richard Dixon is director of Holidaysplease.