Worrisome news for Australia's travel scene today, as Tourism Australia and Qantas' professional relationship seems to be souring.
Qantas's "unprecedented decision" to suspend its $44 million, three-year international marketing funding to Tourism Australia, the government tourism agency headed by Martin Ferguson, will undoubtedly damage not only that relationship but also Australia's global standing and the country's ability to draw millions of international tourists.
According to The Australian, the main problem for the airline is former Qantas chief executive and chairman of Tourism Australia Geoff Dixon's membership in what the paper calls "a high-brow consortium," including former Qantas executive Peter Gregg and investment banker Mark Carnegie, who have bought a small stake in Qantas and are trying to change the airline's strategy, including its proposed partnership with Middle East carrier Emirates.
One industry executive said that Dixon "has been talking Qantas down for months," and that after months of speculation, Joyce had no choice but to act. "As I have indicated to you in our recent discussions, Qantas is of the view that as chairman of Tourism Australia, Dixon is in a position of significant and untenable potential conflict," Joyce wrote in a letter on Tuesday to Ferguson and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, a copy of which has been obtained by The Australian.
"Furthermore, were Tourism Australia to implement governance protocols that might arguably excise Dixon from that potential conflict, Qantas regards the cauterised agency as being of little utility to the Australian tourism industry, much less to Qantas itself," Joyce wrote.
He added that the "Qantas Group cannot continue to partner with Tourism Australia on new initiatives and will not renew existing contracts beyond their expiration".
The letter sent the $95 billion tourism industry -- an employer of 500,000 staff -- into a tailspin yesterday with stakeholders fearing the loss of marketing dollars.
Nevertheless, Dixon still had the support of the Tourism Australia board, which met last night. It is understood the board does not believe there are any governance issues.