Qantas's brand was damaged more by the strikes than the shutdown of the fleet by its chief executive, former Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said on Wednesday.

"They were suffering from very clear statements being made about a year-long campaign and some union officials advising people not to book Qantas because they'd suffer disruption," The Australian quoted Mr Dixon, who addressed the Australian Institute of Company Directors lunch on Gold Coast.

"To me, that is a much, much worse message out there in the world than the short, sharp shock which happened," he added, referring to the two-day grounding of Qantas at the end of October.

Mr Dixon, the current chairman of Tourism Australia, acknowledged the timing of the Qantas shutdown was not the best and the 60,000 affected passengers were not happy being bumped off. However, he insisted that Qantas still acted in the best interest of stakeholders.

"But Qantas carried close to 40 million passengers a year, so what they were doing was trying to ensure some certainty for all those many millions, at the expense, or the pain, of a smaller number of people," Mr Dixon explained.

The Qantas labor row has resulted in a decline in domestic travel among Australians. However, Mr Dixon pointed out that the number of international tourists who visited Australia was increasing steadily, which belied the belief that the strong Australian currency is hurting the tourism industry.

"People are coming, and ... in record numbers, but without a doubt less value is being left in Australia as the visitors encounter higher than expected costs when they get here," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Mr Dixon.

The Qantas dispute is under arbitration by Fair Works Australia. Observers said the arbitration process could last as long as six months since the unions plan to bring in experts who would testify on their behalf.

RELATED STORIES