Tourism minister Clayton Bartolo has pulled out of a conference on the state of the catering industry at the last minute, with organisers saying he had "pressing commitments".

Bartolo was due to give a speech at the Association of Catering Establishments annual conference on Tuesday morning. 

Instead, delegates were told he could not attend due to "last-minute pressing commitments".

Malta Tourism Authority Chairperson Gavin Gulia delivered a speech instead.

Questions have been sent to the Tourism Ministry.

The State of the Industry annual conference programme included a slot for Bartolo's speech. Credit: ACE programme

Bartolo has been under pressure since a standards commission investigation found his partner, Amanda Muscat, was given lucrative consultancy contracts for the tourism and Gozo ministry, despite being underqualified for the job and with no evidence that she carried out the work.

Muscat, who previously served as Bartolo’s secretary, was given a €62,000-a-year job as a policy consultant in Bartolo’s ministry and later transferred to Camilleri’s ministry, getting a pay bump to €68,000.

However, the standards commissioner only found evidence of her doing secretarial work and said Muscat was unqualified to serve as a consultant.

In a statement the PN accused Bartolo of evading his reponsbilities towards an industry he is supposed to be overseeing. 

"The hospitality industry, a crucial sector for the Maltese economy, deserves the Minister’s full attention," it said, repating calls for his resignation. 

"It is unacceptable for him to neglect his responsibilities due to distractions from problems of his own making." 

Bartolo apologised, and told Times of Malta that he believed those calling for his resignation were based on "a political spin".

Last week, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Bartolo's conditional apology was "sufficient", and said Bartolo and Gozo minister Clint Camilleri will continue in their ministerial roles.

Top lobbies and PL insiders have expressed their frustration over the new political patronage scandal and the way Abela is handling it.