Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the legal changes would not mean lap dancing in such clubs would no longer be allowed.

Gentlemen’s clubs will no longer operate in a legal grey area and, rather than being run as bars and regulated under the law on morality, they will be licensed as “late night establishments”.

Concerns have long been raised that gentleman’s clubs serve as a front for human trafficking and prostitution.

Speaking during the launch of a public consultation on legal re-form in the tourism sector yesterday, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the proposed legal changes did not mean lap dancing inside such clubs would no longer be allowed.

“There is no specific licence regulating gentlemen’s clubs. This has led to a situation where, in the past years, they have flourished in a manner that needs to be more regulated.

“This legal reform is targeting a specific licence, regulating gentlemen’s clubs, which is a licence that caters for these clubs… The aim is not to stop the activity but to regulate it,” Dr Zammit Lewis said.

This legal reform is targeting a specific licence... The aim is not to stop the activity but to regulate it

He announced the setting up of an insolvency fund for holidaymakers. It will be used to compensate those whose holidays are cancelled by tour companies. Operators will contribute to the fund, to be administered by a management board that will also keep tabs on the financial soundness of operators in the sector.

The minister said that the fund was supposed to have been set up in 2002 but it had been swept under the carpet.

He promised a crackdown on illegal accommodation offered by private individuals. “We want to license such accommodation to safeguard Malta’s tourism product. Individuals offering such accommodation need to be put on a level playing field with other regulated operators,” Dr Zammit Lewis said.

The private operators would be regulated as offering bed and breakfast accommodation for a maximum of 16 people.

He said that legislative reforms were needed in the tourism sector, not only to update laws but also to have a completely new legal basis that would be more efficient, less bureaucratic and able to facilitate the operations in the sector in line with the developments taking place.

Dr Zammit Lewis said that last year he appointed a committee which had been working on the reform for the past 11 months, consulting various public entities and sector representatives, as well as the ministry.

Comments about the proposed reform can be sent to legalreform.mta@visitmalta.com.