The Wenatchee City Council made a savvy decision to improve the marketing of our valley by investing $340,000 of the city’s lodging tax revenues with the Greater Wenatchee area Chamber of Commerce — funds that had previously gone to fund the Wenatchee Valley Visitors Bureau.

Marketing of our valley has been fragmented by having too many organizations working in isolation. Working together is a far smarter strategy.

The pressure will now be on the chamber to deliver on its promises, but all appearances are that the organization’s vision of consolidation, coordination and strategic focus will serve us better than the approach of having multiple agencies doing their own thing with separate boards, executive directors and priorities.

Communities like Ellensburg, Spokane and the Tri-Cities have enjoyed success by consolidating their efforts in recent years and developing a smart destination-marketing effort. They’ve shown this approach can work well.

Josh Stendera, the Cashmere Valley Bank executive who will be taking over as chamber board president in early 2013, said the board has spent a lot of time listening and learning about the reasons why tourism and marketing efforts have been fragmented. Despite those reasons, he’s convinced consolidation is the best way to go.

This next year will be a challenge because of all the changes, he admits. The first order of business will be hiring a new executive director with destination marketing experience by March 1. Getting the right leader who can bring people together and help craft a vision for the future is crucial because of the need to build trust and confidence with the many organizations that draw tourists to this region. The chamber plans to host round-table conversations starting this spring to to start building those relationships.

Figuring out how to integrate the responsibilities of the visitors bureau and executing those efforts efficiently will also be a significant undertaking, Stendera told me.

One of the exciting projects already happening is that the Wenatchee Downtown Association is taking the lead on bringing in a branding consultant through its Main Street program this winter to develop a first-rate branding campaign. That’s essential because we have so much to offer visitors and yet we don’t promote ourselves effectively. The communities offer so much more than just being the Apple Capital of the World.

Consolidations are never easy, and Stendera said what has been most helpful in these trying times is the number of people who have stepped up and put the best interests of the community ahead of personal preferences. “When that happens, things start happening fast,” he said.

Earlier this fall, the city of East Wenatchee pulled its funding from the visitors bureau, but Stendera promised that the chamber will continue to serve both side of the river. They already have members in both East Wenatchee and Wenatchee. Ultimately, East Wenatchee officials will have to decide if they can better invest the $40,000 or so by themselves or with the newly configured chamber.

The consolidation of the chamber and the visitor bureau will reduce overhead and duplication and at the same time begin the process of thinking about marketing our communities in a more strategic way. Eliminating the visitor bureau is a logical step in that direction, but more consolidation needs to be considered. The Wenatchee Downtown Association and the Apple Blossom Festival would make a natural fit with an umbrella organization like the chamber. Also, this valley desperately needs an economic development council that includes private enterprise.

The chamber is well positioned to make the most of this opportunity for the best interests of the communities over the long term.