Travel Geography Toolkit

This toolkit provides information on the geography of different countries, including key airports, safety and security, and connectivity. It also compares rankings for various pillars and examines recent natural disasters and extreme weather events.

Travel Geography Toolkit
1) With reference to IATA’s most recently published monthly global air passenger data, choose two
countries from two different global regions (outside of Europe and North America) (5%)Data
accessible from - https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/publications/economic-reports/air-
passenger-monthly-analysis---nov-2019/
Country 1 Global Region Country 2 Global Region
Australia Asia Pacific South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
2) Within the selected countries, identify key airports, the capital city and neighbouring countries
(5%):
Map of country 1
Australia has some immensely busy airports which include the Kingford Smith Airport at
Sydney, Tullamarine airport in Melbourne and Brisbane airport. Australia's capital city is
Canberra. Australia's neighbouring countries include New Zealand and Indonesia.
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Map of country 2
South Africa also some immensely busy airports such as the Oliver Tambo International
Airport in Johannesburg, Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town and King Shaka
International Airport in Durban City. South Africa has 3 distinct capitals Pretoria,
Bloemfontein and Cape Town. Its neighbouring countries include Namibia and Botswana.
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3) Based on data from the WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019, compare the
rankings for the following pillars as identified in the report (available from
-https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-travel-tourism-competitiveness-report-2019):
Country 1 Country 2
2017
(SCORE/RANK)
2019
(SCORE/RANK)
2017
(SCORE/RANK)
2019
(SCORE/RANK)
Overall ranking 5.10/ 7th 5.1/ 7th 4.01/ 53rd 4.0/ 61st
International
Openness 4.8 4.9 2.4 2.5
Safety and
Security 6.1 6.1 3.9 3.9
Air transport
Infrastructure 5.7 6 3.4 3.3
Comment on the country’s score/rank for the following (300 words) (20%):
Country 1 Country 2
Internation
al Openness
Australia has been able to improve its
International Openness metric from
2017 to 19 which encourages and
assures foreign travellers travelling to
Australia of its cultural tolerance and
openness to people of different race,
colour and languages without holding
prejudice.
South Africa has not been able to improve
its International Openness in the years
from 17 to 19. Adding this to its already
low score indicates that South Africa as a
country isn't immensely open to people
from other cultures and countries.
Safety and
Security Though Australia has not recorded
any improvement in its safety and
security scores, it already has
procured an effectively high score
and is a relative safe and secure
country.
South Africa also hasn't recorded any
improvement to its safety and security
scores. This can be harmful for its tourism
industry as the country already boasts
relatively low safety and security scores
and is amongst the world leaders in terms
of homicide rates.
Air
transport
infrastructu
re
Australia has been able to improve its
Air Transport Infrastructure which
eases the travelling operations of
their tourists. Boasting high scores in
this regard encourages tourists to
travel to Australia's any location
assured that they can visit other
locations within the vast country with
relative ease.
South Africa has managed to decrease its
Air Transport Infrastructure scores from
2017 to 19 due to low economic growth
and stagnation of its tourism industry due
to safety reasons.
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4) Using the current FCO advice (available from https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice),
comment on the safety of travelling to the destinations (300 words) (20%):
FCO advice – Country 1
Currently, as all over the globe, Australia too
is suffering from the outbreak of Coronavirus
(COVID-19) and this has caused many airlines
to cancel their flights. This can become a
major threat to both Australia's native
population in addition to the foreign
travellers that have gone there for tourism
purposes. Australia is also quite prone to
natural disasters such as the recently
devastating forest fires in addition to other
tropical cyclones, dust storms and flash
floodings. This too poses some questions over
the safety and security of the international
travellers that choose to visit it. The current
threat level for terrorism in Australia is
'probable' which should also put potential
travellers on alert in terms of their safety and
securty.
FCO advice – Country 2
As the entire world faces up to the coronavirus
(COVID-19), the FCO has advised travellers to
only travel to South Africa for urgent and
necessary purposes and not for tourism and
travel purposes. As the country boasts a high
population and low healthcare services, this puts
the health of all travellers who choose to travel
to South Africa during this precarious time in
jeopardy. South Africa also records a high level
of crimes committed including significantly high
rape and murder rates. In addition South Africa
also witnesses high number of armed robberies,
which has actually resulted in the death of high
number of tourists in urban South African cities
such as Cape Town and Johannesburg. Due to all
these reasons the safety and security of
travellers is risky in South Africa. Singular female
travellers visiting South Africa are advised not to
travel alone and travel in a group if they have to.
Which country is the safest based on current FCO advice? (Briefly justify your response)
Comparing both countries it is evident that Australia is more safe and secure for travellers as
travelling to South Africa becomes very troubling for travellers as they become easy targets for
criminals due to their low local knowledge of the area, people and language.
Australia's good neighbour New Zealand is a safe country but is also suffering currently from the
coronavirus. While Botswana a good neighbour of South Africa is relatively safe place in the
African region but is also suffering from the coronavirus outbreak.
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5) Examine whether your countries have recently experienced either environmental/natural
disasters or extreme weather which have impacted air transport activity (200 words)(10%)
Country 1
Australia recently suffered from massive
forest fires which effectively burned off close
to 27 million acres of its land and was
recorded as the country's worst wildfire ever
recorded in history. This had an immense
impact on the native Australian biodiversity
and lead to the eradication of many flora and
fauna's habitats. Estimates predict that close
to 1.25 Billion animals had been killed due to
this, in addition to killing around 30 people
and destroyed around 2500 homes (8 things
everyone should know about Australia’s
wildfire disaster, 2020). It is believed that the
forest fires inflicted long term damage on
Australia's ecosystems.
Country 2
South Africa too has faced multiple natural
disasters in the recent years which have proved
devastating. In 2017 Cape Town was flooded
due to extreme storms with wind speeds close
to 120 Km/h, which caused destruction of
around 800 homes (Cape Storm (2019), 2019). In
2019, the coastal city of Durban was also hit
with extreme floods caused due to torrential
rains which effectively became the country's
deadliest disasters in the 2010 decade. The
major last earthquake to hit South Africa came
in 2014 near its gold mining town Orkney and
was recorded having a magnitude of 5.5 on the
Richter scale.
6) Investigate the accessibility and connectivity of the destinations and determine key markets for
each country (200 words)(10%)
Consider key international airports and flights between chosen countries and their source markets.
Also, look at any visa requirements for travel to the chosen countries from their source markets.
Country 1
Australia possesses numerous developed and
advanced airports capable of handling
immense number of tourists and foreigners
visiting the country. As Australia is a quite
large country, it has developed airports in
most of its major cities to make it easier for
travellers to travel within the country. The
key market for these airports and airlines are
the travellers who come to visit Australia
annually in addition to the local Australian
population who choose to travel within the
country via airways due to the advantages it
provides.
Country 2
South Africa is a major hub for air travel in the
sub-saharan African region due to its developed
and maintained airports in the African region.
This forces more travellers to its airports due to
transit purposes and reduces South African
airport's effectiveness and efficiency. South
Africa has also constructed airports in its major
cities and has identified its core market as
travellers wishing to travel to different parts of
the South African continent as it boasts the most
developed airports in the region.
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7) Consider the political stability within both countries (300 words)(20%)
Important to look at relations with neighbouring states and impacts on air transport.
Country 1
Australia has been a politically stable country
in the last decades due to its liberal
democratic political regime implemented as
per its constitution. Australia being the world
sixth oldest democratic country operates on a
two party system. Its political stability has
helped Australia a lot in growing and
expanding its economy and gross domestic
product. Australia's relationship with its
neighbour New Zealand has been good with
them being natural allies due to their strong
trans-Tasman sense of families. They also
maintain close bilateral relations aiding each
other in military, defence and trading
operations. People of the two countries are
legally free to travel between the two
countries as per the Trans-Tasman Travel
Arrangements of 1973. People are also free
not only to travel between the two countries
but also to work and live between which
significantly adds to the productivity of both
country's air transports.
Country 2
South Africa is a relatively young, vibrant and
moderately politically stable country. In the past
decade it has been politically dominated by a
singular political party with its now current
president Cyril Ramaphosa elected as the
president of the party African National Congress
(ANC). In 2014, the ANC was able to secure
65.9% of the votes winning the democratic
election by aligning itself with other local parties
such as the SACP and the COSATU (Overseas
Business Risk- South Africa, 2018). With South
Africa and its neighbouring country of Botswana
both being under British control in the past and
both having to fight for their independence and
democracy, they maintain amicable relationship
amongst each other. There have been multiple
attempts by leaders of both countries to
establish even better relations through the
creation of various bilateral agreements. Their
bilateral relations do not have much impact
upon their air transports industries.
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Conclusion: Explain which country is the most connected, open and safe of the two destinations
(200 words)(10%)
In conclusion, Australia is the destination that can be recommended to tourists interested in
visiting between the two countries. As Australia boasts a higher score for International Openness,
this can assure nervous travellers that they will be welcomed into the country with gracious open
arms as opposed to the hard stares and eve teasing, bullying they might expect if travelling to
South Africa. Australia is also significantly safe and secure for its foreign travellers as can be seen
from both the country's safety scores. South Africa can also become an extremely unsafe place
for travellers especially one 8 things everyone should know about Australia’s wildfire disaster,
2020female travellers with its high rape, homicide and murder rates. South Africa also records
great number of armed robberies which is very problematic for foreign travellers. As both the
countries are currently suffering from the coronavirus outbreak, health precautions are still
advised, but due to Australia possessing a more advanced and developed healthcare system, it
becomes the clear choice as the preferred tourist destination for health safety conscious
travellers. Though the occurrences of natural disasters has been prevalent in both countries,
Australia again possesses better disaster management initiatives and programmes than South
Africa capable of faster dispatch time and saving many more lives during the process.
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Reference List:
Online
8 things everyone should know about Australia’s wildfire disaster, 2020 [Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/8/21055228/australia-fires-
map-animals-koalas-wildlife-smoke-donate>
Cape Storm (2019), 2019 [Online]. Available
Through:<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_storm_(2017)>
Overseas Business Risk- South Africa, 2018[Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-south-
africa/overseas-business-risk-south-africa>
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