Qantas threatens to quit tourism agency Qantas has threatened to end its longstanding relationship with Tourism Australia, the government agency responsible for attracting international visitors to the country, unless the body can resolve an alleged conflict of interest between its chairman, Geoff Dixon, and a group of wealthy investors pushing for change at the Australian airline. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce informed tourism minister Martin Ferguson on Tuesday that the national carrier has suspended negotiations over a new marketing and co-operation agreement. An existing three-year A$44m deal between the airline and the tourism body ends in June. Qantas is the tourism body's largest commercial partner after the Australian government and an important ambassador for the country's tourism industry. The row over Mr Dixon's involvement with the rebel shareholder group could also threaten the tie-up with Emirates, the Dubai-based carrier, agreed in September. In a statement Qantas said it could not "continue" to collaborate with an agency whose chairman is a "member of a syndicate committed to unravelling Qantas" structure and direction, including its proposed partnership with Emirates. The tie-up is a key part of Mr Joyce's plan to turnround the performance of its lossmaking international business. Mr Dixon, who was chief executive of Qantas until 2008, has been repeatedly linked to a group of investors who have built a small stake in the airline and are agitating for a change in strategy. The consortium includes Mark Carnegie, a high-profile Australian financier, and former Qantas finance director Peter Gregg. While Mr Dixon has not been openly agitating for change at Qantas he has never denied his link to the consortium, which has been briefing major shareholders and unions on its plan. In addition to abandoning the Emirates deal, the investors also want Qantas to sell or spin off stakes in its Jetstar Asia and Frequent Flyers businesses, according to local media reports. TA managing director Andrew McEvoy said the agency had a "strong governance framework" and would consider the Qantas decision to suspend "future activities" at an emergency board meeting in Sydney. "Qantas is the longest-standing marketing partner of Tourism Australia, and both organisations have worked for decades in a professional, collaborative and overwhelmingly supportive manner, all in the common best interest of Australian tourism," Mr McEvoy said. In an address to the National Aviation Press Club on Wednesday, Mr Joyce attempted to reassure the tourism industry about the decision to end its relationship with TA. He said that "not one dollar" of marketing spend would be lost as a result of the move. "The only difference is where we spend our money," he said. It is understood that Qantas will channel the A$44m it would have spent with TA through regional tourism bodies," he said. A spokeswoman for Virgin Australia, the country's second-biggest airline, said it had no plans to take over the Qantas marketing deal. We already work with Tourism Australia and we will continue working with them to promote the tourism industry.