THe toys are in the pram, dummies put back in place and, one could imagine, apologies mumbled while the adversaries stared at the floor, hands thrust in pockets.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the children have made up. But a petty playground squabble this was not.
This was the end of a rather undignified, tatty and very public four-year spat between Australia’s national flag carrier and the country’s peak tourism agency.
That someone thought it time to bang the collective heads together of Qantas and Tourism Australia is to be welcomed. That it took so long is alarming.
The two organisations fell out in late 2012 when TA’s then-chairman Geoff Dixon, a former Qantas CEO, became so disillusioned with the airline that an influential consortium to which he belonged began briefing against its strategy.
Amid cries of treachery, Alan Joyce, who had been close to Dixon when he took over as Qantas CEO in 2008, promptly picked up his bat and ball and headed home – ending a decades-long association.
Qantas said it just could not work with an agency whose chairman was “committed to unravelling Qantas’ structure and direction”.
You could hardly blame them. That it has taken so long to bury the hatchet when Qantas and TA have such common interests is harder to fathom.
Even more bewildering is that while Joyce remains at the helm of Qantas, Dixon left TA 15 months ago, and a new MD, in the form of John O’Sullivan, has been in situ at TA for well over two years.
In truth, the rift did begin to heal before now, with tactical efforts between Qantas and TA in Japan. The airline’s onboard safety video also involved the agency.
But only now, with a $20m three-year deal, have they entered a formal agreement and ushered in a “new era of partnership”.
Fortunately, the split does not appear to have hampered Australia’s tourism, although it’s tempting to wonder what additional growth there may have been.
Be that as it may, tourists have continued to arrive in increasing numbers, from both traditional western markets and Asia. That is partly down to the sterling work of Tourism Australia – but in addition, the days when Qantas was the only player in town have long gone; TA struck deals with many of Qantas’s competitors. And ultimately – eventually – that may have been telling.
QF has been injecting money into state and territory campaigns, so it can hardly be accused of neglecting its tourism duties.
For all that, it may have looked at the high profile marketing campaigns that come with working with the country’s national tourism body and concluded it was missing out, or at least handing its competitors a needless advantage.
Either way, images of John O’Sullivan and Alan Joyce smiling over a handshake, and with $20m on the table, can only be good news for the tourism industry. It just should never have dragged on so long
