He referred to an article by The Shift News, which read that Pierre Fenech - the CEO of the government's Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) - took his wife on a free cruise around the Mediterranean "courtesy of Viking Cruises, a Swiss-based company that, at the time, was negotiating a deal to send staff to train at the same Institute."

The Shift News said that when contacted, Fenech admitted that he had accepted the invitation but insisted that he had asked for clearance from Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo's ministry, which was approved and insisted it was not a gift.

Cassola said: "Last April, Pierre Fenech from ITS was given a free cruise from Viking cruises. The cruise left from Ancona and so, aside from a free cruise, Fenech also had a free trip to Ancona paid by ITS. The acceptance of this trip as a kind of gift by the ITS head constitutes a clear conflict of interest. But Fenech said that he had the go ahead from Minister Clayton Bartolo. This is why I am writing to you  to request that Minister Bartolo be investigated 1) as he should never have approved sucha  gift that constitutes a conflict of interest. 2) He should have never approved that ITS pay the expenses of a private trip from Malta to Ancona and back."