Co-Founder – EGNAZIA Ospitalità Italiana

An innovative entrepreneur and passionate traveller, Aldo Melpignano is the Founder of Egnazia Hospitality Italian.

Born in Rome in 1977 to parents from Puglia, Aldo Melpignano completed his initial studies at the Catholic institute San Giuseppe De Merode in Rome, before moving to London in 1997 to attend the Cass Business School at City University.

At just 19 years old, he had his first encounter with the world of hospitality, supporting his mother in transforming Masseria San Domenico, already a family property, into the first “Leading Hotel of the World” in Puglia.

A few years later, he decided to embark on his own training path. At 22, he began working in investment banking before moving to the United States. There, at just twenty-five, he was among the youngest students at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2005.

Aldo subsequently moved to New York and, after informally engaging with the hotel industry, began working for Morgans Hotel Group in 2005. This company was founded by Ian Schrager, a hospitality guru who revolutionised the hotel sector. After an initial role in finance, Aldo became responsible for corporate planning and investor relations, and finally, as Business Development Director, he managed the company's international growth.

In 2007, Aldo answered the call of his Puglian roots and decided to return to Europe to dedicate himself to the family activities that had developed in the meantime. Dividing his time between London and Puglia, Aldo is at the helm of the new and ambitious family venture: Borgo Egnazia, an innovative destination that has gradually changed the characteristics of travel and well-being in a previously unknown region.

Today, Aldo is also Vice-President responsible for the hospitality sector at Altagamma, the foundation that promotes Italy's high-quality industry.

In 2023, Aldo Melpignano presents the Egnazia Ospitalità Italiana group with the intention of supporting the development of territories and people through an innovative vision of hospitality, both international and local, contemporary yet deeply rooted in tradition.