How to determine the country threat level to use with MOTSS:

There are three options for determining the country threat level:

1. Government travel advice.

2. Insurer-provided or subscription risk portal.

3. Bespoke systems, such as Open Briefing's country threat rating tool.

MOTSS is divided into core, enhanced and advanced standards to apply to low-, medium- or high-threat countries respectively; however, many government advice systems and subscription risk portals use four- or five-point scales. The traveller will need to map these onto the three-point scale used in MOTSS - with the highest and lowest ratings matching low and high in MOTSS, and the middle ratings matched according to the best fit.

An example is the four-point travel advisory system used by the US state department, which can be matched onto a three-point scale as follows:

Exercise normal precautions LOW
Exercise increased caution MEDIUM
Reconsider travel MEDIUM
Do not travel HIGH

Likewise, a five-point risk portal system can be mapped onto the three-point system used by MOTSS as follows:

Negligible LOW
Low LOW
Medium MEDIUM
High HIGH
Critical HIGH

The other option, is for travellers to use a bespoke system, such as Open Briefing's country threat rating tool. To use this simple tool, the traveller should answer each question below, and record their score for each as indicated. The total score will provide the country threat level to use as follows:

7 LOW
8-13 MEDIUM
14-31 HIGH

Note that two of the answers (relating to armed conflict and do not travel warnings) substantially increase the overall score in order to ensure an accurate outcome.

Total score:

7 LOW
8-13 MEDIUM
14-31 HIGH