JMV Destinations
Jonah
Martin
Founder & Managing Principal
25+ years of experience across global hospitality, aquatic design, business development, and destination advisory.
Executive Profile
Founder & Managing Principal
Executive Profile
Building relationships. Shaping visions. Connecting the right people.
Jonah Martin is the Founder and Managing Principal of JMV Destinations — a strategic advisory firm focused on luxury hospitality and destination development. With more than 25 years of experience across global hospitality, aquatic design, and business development, Jonah brings a rare combination of industry relationships, creative perspective, and strategic thinking to every client engagement.
His career spans senior roles at Martin Aquatic, MarAqua Design, Hilton Worldwide, and The McBride Company — building a depth of industry knowledge and a network of relationships across hospitality, resort development, and aquatic design that few advisors can match.
Through JMV Destinations, Jonah works with developers, landowners, resort operators, and hospitality groups to identify extraordinary opportunities, shape compelling development concepts, and connect clients with the expertise and partnerships their projects require.
Professional Experience
25+ Years of Industry Leadership
2025 — Present
JMV Destinations
Founder & Managing Principal
Founded JMV Destinations to provide strategic advisory services to developers, landowners, and hospitality groups pursuing extraordinary destination concepts. Leads all client engagements across development advisory, storytelling, and industry relationship management.
September 2023 — December 2025
The McBride Company
Director of Business Development
Led business development initiatives for one of the hospitality industry's premier destination storytelling and creative strategy firms. Cultivated relationships with resort developers, ownership groups, and hospitality brands to advance complex destination projects.
January 2012 — August 2023
Hilton Worldwide
Senior Global Brand Specialist / Sales Leadership
Served in senior sales and brand specialist roles across Hilton's global portfolio for over a decade. Built and managed relationships with ownership groups, developers, and hospitality partners across domestic and international markets.
2009 — 2012
MarAqua Design
Vice President, Business Development
Led business development for MarAqua Design, driving client acquisition and partnership development across the resort aquatic design sector. Expanded the firm's reach across major hospitality and resort development markets.
2001 — 2009
Martin Aquatic
Vice President, Global Sales
Directed global sales strategy for Martin Aquatic, one of the world's leading aquatic design and engineering firms. Cultivated relationships with resort developers, theme park operators, and hospitality brands across six continents.
Global Reach
Global Industry Relationships
Jonah Martin's network spans four interconnected verticals — built over decades of hands-on project work, executive partnerships, and global advisory engagements.
01
Luxury Hospitality
02
Entertainment & Attractions
03
Lifestyle & Consumer Brands
04
Development & Real Estate
Global Reach
Global Industry Relationships
Jonah Martin's network spans four interconnected verticals — built over decades of hands-on project work, executive partnerships, and global advisory engagements.
- 01Luxury Hospitality
- 02Entertainment & Attractions
- 03Lifestyle & Consumer Brands
- 04Development & Real Estate
Areas of Expertise
A rare combination of disciplines.
Jonah's career has been defined by the intersection of creative vision, technical knowledge, and commercial execution — a combination that few advisors in the hospitality and destination development space can offer.
Destination Development Advisory
Strategic guidance for developers and landowners pursuing luxury hospitality and destination resort concepts — from initial feasibility through concept refinement and partnership development.
Global Hospitality Relationships
Decades of cultivated relationships across major hotel brands, resort operators, aquatic design firms, and development groups — providing clients with access and introductions that accelerate their projects.
Aquatic Design & Engineering
Deep technical knowledge of resort aquatic systems — from lazy rivers and wave pools to mechanical infrastructure and water efficiency — built through years of senior roles at leading aquatic design firms.
Storytelling & Brand Strategy
Expertise in shaping compelling destination narratives that resonate with investors, operators, and guests — translating complex development concepts into clear, persuasive stories.
Business Development
Proven track record of identifying opportunities, building partnerships, and advancing complex hospitality projects from concept through commitment — across domestic and international markets.
Strategic Partnerships
Skilled at connecting the right people — developers, operators, designers, and capital partners — to form the teams that bring extraordinary destination concepts to life.
Technical Expertise
Aquatic Engineering & Technical Development
Where Vision Meets Engineering.
JMV brings a rare depth of technical understanding to the intersection of commercial aquatic systems, hospitality development, engineering coordination, and strategic business development. This expertise informs every advisory engagement — enabling clients to make better decisions, avoid costly missteps, and develop aquatic assets that perform at the highest level.
JMV Destinations provides advisory and development coordination services. JMV is not a licensed engineering firm and does not offer services requiring professional engineering licensure. All technical subjects are presented as industry expertise and development advisory perspective.
01
Aquatic Mechanical Systems
Deep familiarity with the full mechanical ecosystem of commercial aquatic facilities — pumping, filtration, circulation, piping networks, and equipment-room design. Understanding these systems at a technical level allows JMV to bridge the gap between design intent and operational reality during the development process.
Conceptual Destination Development | Integrated Aquatic Attractions & Entertainment
02
Commercial Aquatic Attractions
From resort pools and lazy rivers to wave pools and specialty aquatic environments, JMV brings advisory perspective on the full spectrum of commercial aquatic attractions. This includes understanding guest experience, operational flow, capacity planning, and the development considerations unique to water-based hospitality amenities.
Illustrative aquatic engineering and design coordination concept.
03
Engineering & Design Coordination
Successful aquatic development requires seamless collaboration among architects, engineers, aquatic designers, equipment manufacturers, contractors, and ownership. JMV's advisory role includes facilitating this coordination — ensuring technical requirements are understood across disciplines and that development decisions are informed by engineering realities.
04
Water Efficiency & System Performance
Modern aquatic development demands a sophisticated understanding of energy efficiency, variable-speed technology, water conservation, and long-term operational performance. JMV advises clients on lifecycle considerations that affect both the guest experience and the financial performance of aquatic assets over time.
Technical Understanding. Commercial Execution.
Connecting engineering insight, industry relationships, and strategic business development to help advance complex aquatic and hospitality projects.
The JMV Philosophy
The right relationships change everything.
What makes a destination truly extraordinary?
At JMV Destinations, we believe that the most important ingredient in any successful development is the quality of the relationships behind it. The right partners, the right operators, the right creative minds — assembled at the right moment — are what separate a compelling concept from a transformative destination.
Our advisory work is built on more than two decades of relationship-building across the global hospitality industry. We bring those relationships — and the trust that comes with them — to every client engagement.
We don't just advise. We connect, advocate, and help shape the stories that make extraordinary places possible.
The best destinations aren't just built — they're imagined, refined, and brought to life by the right people working toward a shared vision.
Jonah Martin — Founder, JMV Destinations
Strategic Partnerships
Let's build something extraordinary.
JMV Destinations works with a select group of developers, landowners, and hospitality groups each year. If you have a vision worth pursuing, we'd like to hear about it.