Then there’s the endless fighting on the Syria-Turkey border, made worse perhaps by Donald Trump’s diplomatic and military bungling. Closer to home, for those of us in the travel industry, the past few weeks have seen the tragic fallout from the demise of Thomas Cook.

But the Thomas Cook affair is in fact what triggered my thoughts about Armstrong’s song. In a world full of negativity and tragedy, there are times when – if you work in the travel industry – it’s possible to feel that we work in rather a wonderful world.

Cast your eyes back through the pages of TTG over the past year or so. Time after time there are stories of staff from businesses across travel enduring one form of pain or another – running, cycling or completing a Tough Mudder, for example – all to raise money for charity. Many industry events include a charity auction or a raffle to raise money for their own chosen charity too.

A couple of examples: the industry has, rightly and deservedly, taken Reuben’s Retreat to its heart, and at a recent conference, everyone present was clearly moved after watching a video highlighting what money from our industry has done for that particular organisation.

Then there’s LifeLine, the Abta charity set up solely to help members of our industry. LifeLine has been at the fore of helping Thomas Cook employees for whom, unlike the directors of the business, the company’s demise has meant sudden and unexpected hardship.

Time and again, when a charity appeals to members of our industry, the true heart of travel is swiftly apparent. Staff from all levels of the industry are quick to get involved and eager to contribute what they can to raise the necessary funds.

At Aito, one of the highlights of our annual Overseas Conference – to be held in the Polish city of Wroclaw later this month – is always the charity auction at the gala dinner, where generously donated prizes are bought by generously willing delegates. This is often much to the amazement of delegates from the host countries who join us at the dinner.

Closer to home, my own foundation – the Derek Moore Foundation, started just this year – has received so much support from friends in the industry that we have already achieved our targets for our first year. I have been amazed at how so many people have taken a look at our website and wanted to get involved.

There are a lot of downsides to this world of ours. But if you look around at the goodness in the heart of our industry, when help is needed it is indeed possible to reflect that this is, in many ways, a wonderful world.