As the Gulf War taught us, we know now that whenever a horror situation erupts in the Middle East, this means tragedy for the whole world, given that the region is the world's largest oil supplier.

And just as we were worried sick that oil prices could be pushed up even further if Iran's nuclear programme turned into a hot issue, now another Middle Eastern war has roiled the oil markets.

In the face of war, I am so impressed with the people at eTurboNews - the tourism news website. They do their jobs well: they are now worried about the tourism industry in Lebanon and Israel.

Posted on their site recently were their concerns:

"Condemnations of the violence and calls for solidarity have come from various sides. Unfortunately, we have heard nothing from the 'leaders' of the industry, despite tens of thousands of tourists being in harm's way. Responses allude to the fact that we are in a state of war and that they do not want to get involved because it is 'too political'. What happens then to stranded tourists?"

Now they are worried about 10,000 tourists stuck in the two countries, along with the attendant problems of the rebooking of planned summer holidays and cooperation with a tourism industry in crisis.

Some might say that the loss of innocent lives and soaring oil prices should be of higher concern than the prosperity of people in the tourism industry. But I can't help feeling that the people at eTurboNews are being responsible.

They know that they are covering tourism news and they ably found the angle to write about it even in the face of the Israel-Lebanon war. If more people were so conscientious about their jobs, the world would be a better place.

achara_d@nationgroup.com.