Malta’s most celebrated heritage hospitality group, The Xara Collection has named a new Chief Executive Officer, and the appointment carries a significance that reaches well beyond the boardroom. Thomas Agius Ferrante returns to the ancient walled city of Mdina, where he spent his formative years, to lead The Xara Collection into its next chapter. With a career shaped by some of Britain’s finest country house hotels and a leadership style forged through years of international experience, his arrival signals a considered evolution for one of the Mediterranean’s most storied hospitality collections.

The Xara Collection operates at the intersection of Maltese history and contemporary luxury, with a portfolio that spans a Michelin-starred restaurant group, a palatial hotel within the walls of Mdina, and a growing range of exclusive residential and retreat properties. The business is family-run, guided by Managing Director Justin Zammit Tabona and Director Nicola Paris, and it has built its reputation on the principle that genuine heritage, handled with care, is far more compelling than anything that can be manufactured.

Thomas joins the senior leadership team with a remit to strengthen and evolve the collection while keeping its founding character firmly intact. His task is not to reinvent what The Xara Collection is, but to deepen it, bringing the operational rigour and guest experience philosophy he has developed across more than a decade of work in some of the United Kingdom’s most respected properties.

A career built on distinction

Thomas has spent his career working within properties that share a common philosophy: that great hospitality is built on craft, not spectacle. His formative years in the industry were spent at some of Britain’s most admired country house hotels, including the Grove of Narbeth, part of the Seren Collection in Wales, and the Gilpin Hotel & Lake House in the Lake District. Both properties are known for operating at the highest level while maintaining an intimacy and warmth that larger luxury brands often struggle to replicate.

“Thomas brings knowledge, skill, warmth and a strong sense of direction, his leadership will play an important role in continuing to evolve The Xara Collection with confidence, while staying true to the heritage and stories that define our properties.”

Justin Zammit Tabona, Managing Director of The Xara Collection

Across these postings and others in London, he developed a broad expertise spanning operations, guest experience design, and team leadership. He worked alongside some of the most respected professionals in the field, absorbing the kind of institutional knowledge that only comes from years spent at close quarters with the detail of genuine hospitality. That grounding now forms the basis of the approach he brings to Malta.

Leadership with roots in Mdina

For Thomas himself, the appointment is freighted with personal meaning. Having spent his childhood within the walls of Mdina, a city whose history stretches back over two millennia, the opportunity to return as chief executive of its most prominent hospitality group is not something he takes lightly.

“Returning to Mdina and to The Xara Collection feels like coming home. There is a unique energy here, a sense of continuity and history that is deeply inspiring. I look forward to working with our talented team to create experiences that feel genuine, respect the heritage of our buildings, and provide meaningful connections for our guests. Together, we will ensure that The Xara Collection continues to be a beacon of Maltese hospitality.”

Thomas Agius Ferrante, Cheif Executive Officer, The Xara Collection

The Portfolio

At the heart of the collection sits The Xara Palace, a hotel of genuine architectural significance set within a 17th-century palazzo in the centre of Mdina. Alongside it, Palazzino Belvedere offers a more private residential experience, designed for guests who prefer a quieter relationship with their surroundings. Thomas has outlined a clear ambition for this property: to position it as a benchmark for intimate, design-led stays that remain deeply rooted in the Maltese aesthetic and cultural tradition.

Beyond the city, Villa Barumbara Tal-Larinġ offers a different proposition entirely. Set in the Maltese countryside, this secluded retreat is conceived as a place for families to pause and reconnect, away from the pace of contemporary life. Under Thomas’s direction, the villa is being developed as the collection’s flagship leisure retreat, with an emphasis on space, privacy, and the slower rhythms that countryside living affords.

A Michelin-starred culinary programme

The collection’s culinary offering is among Malta’s most distinguished, and it will form a significant part of Thomas’s focus. De Mondion holds a Michelin star and operates at the fine dining level, combining contemporary technique with the formal elegance expected of its setting. Rosami takes a contrasting approach, built around provenance-led cooking that is less constrained by convention, and has attracted considerable critical attention for its willingness to push beyond established boundaries.

Completing the gastronomic picture are Medina Restaurant, which operates from within a historic 11th-century residence and has accumulated its own portfolio of awards, and Trattoria AD 1530, which offers a more relaxed interpretation of regional Maltese cooking. Together, the four restaurants give the collection an unusual breadth of culinary voice, from the highly formal to the warmly convivial. Managing this portfolio with consistency and ambition will be one of the more demanding aspects of the new CEO’s brief.

Continuity and considered growth

The philosophy that Thomas brings to the role is not one of disruption. The Xara Collection has earned its position through decades of careful stewardship, and the incoming CEO is alert to the risk of change for its own sake. His stated priority is evolution that enhances rather than displaces, preserving the authenticity and character of each property while introducing the operational and experiential improvements that will keep the collection relevant to a new generation of well-travelled guests.

Working alongside Zammit Tabona and Paris, Thomas will oversee a collection that occupies a genuinely distinctive position within European luxury hospitality. Malta’s appeal as a destination has grown considerably in recent years, driven by its climate, its compact scale, and a cultural richness that rewards close attention. For a group whose identity is inseparable from the island’s history, that growing interest creates both opportunity and responsibility. How Thomas navigates that balance over the coming years will be watched with considerable interest.