Visit Morgan Hill Director Krista Rupp Departs

Visit Morgan Hill Executive Director Krista Rupp is leaving Morgan Hill to take the top job at Visit Morro Bay. (morganhilltimes.com) Rupp has led Visit Morgan Hill since March 2020, when the city’s tourism organization was still being built out. The Morgan Hill Times said she grew it from concept to a fully operating program as its sole staff member. (morganhilltimes.com) Her new role takes her back to Morro Bay, which the report described as her hometown and where her tourism career began. Visit Morro Bay is the official destination marketing organization for the city and operates through a Tourism Business Improvement District created in 2009. (morganhilltimes.com) (morrobay.org) Morgan Hill’s tourism program is relatively new by comparison. Visit Morgan Hill says the city’s first Tourism Business Improvement District and Visit Morgan Hill itself were formed in 2019. (visitmorganhill.org) That structure matters because Visit Morgan Hill is funded by hotel assessments, not general city taxes. The organization says hotels contribute 1.5% of gross short-term room revenue to fund the district and its marketing work. (visitmorganhill.org) During Rupp’s tenure, Visit Morgan Hill added formal planning documents that now anchor the program. The organization’s website lists a destination strategic plan, a 2024 tourism market assessment and district management plans through 2034. (visitmorganhill.org) The group also rolled out a new visitor publication this year. In February, Visit Morgan Hill launched its first destination guide, a 56-page print-and-digital piece with distribution in 30 cities across Santa Clara County and up the Peninsula to San Francisco. (morganhilltimes.com) Morro Bay had been preparing for an executive director transition before Rupp’s move became public. Draft board minutes from a February 6, 2025 special meeting show Visit Morro Bay’s transition committee was told to interview Krista Rupp for the full-time permanent position. (morro-bay.s3.amazonaws.com) Visit Morgan Hill’s website still lists Rupp as executive director, and the organization has not yet publicly posted a successor on its staff page. (visitmorganhill.org) Her departure leaves Morgan Hill searching for new leadership just as its tourism program enters its next phase: selling a brand, a guide and a long-range plan that were all built in its first six years. (morganhilltimes.com) (visitmorganhill.org)