John Urdi, CDME
John is an accomplished CEO and destination management executive with more than 30 years of leadership in resort operations, tourism marketing, and community-driven economic development. As President & CEO of Mammoth Lakes Tourism from 2010- 2025, he transformed the organization into a national model for sustainable growth and destination stewardship. Under John’s leadership, Mammoth Lakes Tourism pioneered the first-of-its-kind Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) model that extended beyond lodging to include restaurants, retailers, and recreation partners (ski and golf resorts), boosting annual operational funding from $2 million to more than $11 million. His leadership helped triple Transient Occupancy Tax revenues from $10 million to nearly $30 million while elevating Mammoth Lakes into one of California’s premier year-round destinations.
In his current role as President and CEO of Visit Huntington Beach in California, John is focused on securing organizational funding through yet another ground-breaking model, privatization. With private funding, Visit Huntington Beach protects tourism funding from being diverted to city programs and focuses efforts on driving overnight visitation and guest experience.
Over the past three decades John has held executive sales and marketing roles at Mammoth Lakes Tourism (CA), Grand Targhee Resort (WY), Colorado Ski Country USA (CO), and Attitash Resort (NH), where he consistently drove record growth in visitation, yield, and brand engagement. A strategic and collaborative leader, he emphasizes fiscal responsibility, team empowerment, and long-term sustainability—aligning tourism success with community well-being and environmental stewardship.
John’s influence extends beyond his organization through his active governance roles with Visit California, California Travel Association, U.S. Travel Association, and Destinations International. He is a Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) and a founding member of Think X Collective; a global network focused on stewardship and sustainability.
A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, John approaches leadership with the same energy he brings to the ocean, mountains, and trails—driven by curiosity, connection, and a belief in tourism’s power to enhance people, place, and prosperity.
John met his wife Erin at a tourism conference in Huntington Beach in 2021 and they were married on the beach in April of 2024. John’s two children are both in college with his daughter Bryn attending Cal Poly Humboldt and his son Jace at Santa Barbara City College. In his spare time John likes to travel, hike, bike, golf, garden, ski, cook, motorcycle and work on classic cars.