BAJA CALIFORNIA INVESTMENT FORUM

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John McCarthy was born in Mexico. He received his Bachelor in Arts degree from the school of Business Administration of La Salle University in Mexico City

McCarthy specialized in tourism early in his career, when he became involved in the development, marketing, sales and operation of a resort project in Ixtapa. He was later appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Division of Bancomer, Mexico’s largest bank.

When Bancomer sold its Club Regina properties and business to Raintree Resorts International, McCarthy became its President and Chief Operating Officer.

December 2000, President Vicente Fox of Mexico named McCarthy to the post of General Director of the National Trust for the Development of Tourism ( FONATUR ), in which position he forms part of the expanded cabinet of the Mexican presidency.

McCarthy has been a professor at the Universidad Anahuac del Sur in Mexico City,as well as serving on the Board of its school of Tourism.

A founding member of the Mexican Resort Developers Association (AMDETUR), he has held various offices in it, including that of Chairman.
He has been speaker at numerous conferences in the United States, Central and South America, Europe, as well as in Mexico.

In February 2000, he was elected Chairman of the National Tourism Business Council.

McCarthy sits on the Board of the Mexican Tourism Promotion Board
(Consejo de Promoción Turística de México) and has sat on the Boards of the Presidente Intercontinental Hotels, Club Med Huatulco and Raintree Resorts International.