TOMM Process
In contrast to management frameworks such as LAC and VIMM where the focus is on setting limits to manage impacts, the TOMM emphasises optimal and sustainable outcomes for tourism and the community, and sets acceptable ranges within which they should occur.
TOMM focuses on an integrated approach to tourism management and alleviates concern regarding limitation of tourism growth, by:
- avoiding use of the terms “impact” and “limits” which the tourism industry interpret as discouraging growth and thus business;
- focussing on the entire tourism system rather than just its ecological and market components;
- providing for the involvement of all stakeholders, through a partnership approach and grounding the systems within community processes; and
- serving a multitude of stakeholders, operating at a regional level over a range of protected area and private land tenures (Twyford et al, 2001).
The optimal conditions cover the broad spectrum of the economic, market opportunity, environmental, experiential and socio-cultural factors and as such, reflect the entire tourism system.
A central feature of the TOMM concept, was the inclusion of a management response system which alerts key stakeholders, to those indicators which are not performing within their acceptable range or to other potential issues which may require additional monitoring.
In theory, with active involvement of all key management agencies on the Island and ongoing dialogue with the Island community, this cause / effect / response relationship allows for effective and timely management action. It also results in the evolution of a sustainable tourism model in line with the changes occurring within the Island community.
The development of the TOMM required extensive consultation to identify the values of the community, which informed the development of potential indicators and became the first of a three stage process - context analysis, a monitoring program and a management response system (Manidis Roberts Consultants, 1997). The development of the TOMM approach is represented in the Figure below.