Terrorist atrocities hit the tourism industry hard last year, with direct attacks on beach-going holidaymakers and tragic aircraft incidents hitting sentiment towards travel. And with the ever-present threat of Islamic State, further upheaval caused by extremist groups cannot be ruled out.
But one thing we have heard again and again from management teams - and the benchmark outperformance by airline stocks in 2015 goes some way to prove this - is that demand bounces back. People want to go on holiday and even though modern communication reduces the need to travel for the business sector, this area of the market is in rude health, with companies fighting hard to get a piece of the action.
A major factor lifting all the airlines, and which will affect the tour operators too, is the oil price. All the operators use a hedging strategy to smooth the cost of jet fuel so they won't necessarily be feeling the full effects of the precipitous falls now, but the drop in price is definitely having a positive impact on costs. Also, without an obvious catalyst for oil price rises, these companies are likely to be able to bring down the average cost of their hedged fuel as the months tick by. In recent statements, all the airlines have noted that the cost of carrying passengers has fallen, with the bulk of this being attributable to fuel.