Where are you located on Earth?
I am currently based in Vienna.
What do you do?
I am a student in the International Master of Cartography program and am currently writing my thesis in Vienna.
How did you get into making maps / the geospatial field?
I have always been fascinated by maps as communication tools. I studied Geographic Engineering and later pursued a master’s degree in Cartography, so maps have been a central part of both my studies and professional life.
What inspired your map?
While studying in Vienna, noticing how well-connected is the city to other regions, not only by train but also flight, I became interested in how people choose their travel destinations. I was curious about which factors influence these decisions and whether they could be mapped in a way that helps people prioritize or select destinations more efficiently.
Most existing travel tools usually prioritize geographic distance. I wanted to go beyond that by incorporating additional factors such as monetary cost and travel time. Using map imitation techniques, I aimed to create a visualization that better reflects people’s mental maps. This is an area with so much potential, but it is still underexplored with few concrete representations.
What tools and data did you use to make the map?
I collected data from airlines and train companies, travel costs and durations. To represent the level of tourism in each city, I used the number of overnight stays by tourists in 2024 (based on European statistics).
I then used Python to reproject the cities coordinates into a new coordinate system and to generate the elevation surface based on how touristic is the city. With the python outputs, I created the map in ArcGIS, and I finalized the layout in Adobe Illustrator, adding some elements to resemble a compass.
Anything you’d like to tell the readers of GeoHipster?
I hope this map sparks curiosity and encourages people to think differently about traveling and destination choice. More importantly, I hope it inspires exploration of places that might not have been initially considered.