Gov. Patrick Morrisey has named Kayla Kessinger, a former Republican delegate from Fayette County, to be the state’s new tourism secretary.
Kessinger replaces Chelsea Ruby, who departed last month after serving in three administrations.
The governor highlighted Kessinger’s experience in the state Legislature, knowledge of state government and team building skills.
Morrisey said, “She knows our state. She understands our communities. She has incredible organizational skills, and she’s a coalition builder. A lot of people don’t realize the importance of that in tourism, because you’re coordinating a lot of the local chambers, the convention bureaus, all the different people who make West Virginia special.”
Kessinger served in the House of Delegates from 2015 to 2022, when she did not run for re-election. She had served as an assistant majority leader. The governor named Kessinger to the state Ethics Commission last year.
Kessinger has most recently worked as the programs director for Her PLAN, an organization aiming to provide alternatives to abortion through medical, social and material support providers.
“It is an incredible honor to get to serve the state that I love so deeply in this new role,” Kessinger said today.
The West Virginia Legislature elevated the tourism leadership position from a director’s role to a cabinet-level department in 2021. That move separated the Tourism Office and Development Office from the Department of Commerce into independent executive-level departments. Ruby was the first appointee.
Kessinger today said she would aim to build on the work already being done by the tourism department, emphasizing that the outreach there has changed how people see West Virginia by being authentic.
“I think that in a lot of ways they have put West Virginia on the map, not by pretending that we’re something that we’re not, but by really showing people who we are and who we’ve always been,” she said.
She described the role as an ambassador to encourage people to see the mountains, raft the rivers, hike the trails and discover the people who make the state special.
“We get to dig deep to uncover the people, the traditions, experiences, the culture that make West Virginia unlike anywhere else in the world, and we get the chance to climb higher, to dream bigger, and to stand on the mountaintops and shout about what an incredible place West Virginia is,” she said.